Bloody print led to arrest

Man, 19, held in connection with Arkadelphia deaths

— A bloody palm print left on a bedroom door led authorities to arrest 19-year-old Riakos Ausmere Lizana on Saturday night in connection with the Thursday deaths of an Arkadelphia man and his two young stepdaughters, according to a document released Monday after Lizana’s first court appearance.

Lizana, of Arkadelphia, faces three capital murder charges and three aggravated residential charges in the slayings of 4-year-old Marley Crutchfield, 6-year-old Adiele Crutchfield and 40-year-old Bobby Jean Galbraith.

The probable-cause affidavit doesn’t state a motive for the killings, nor does it say how the three died.

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Clark County Circuit Judge Robert McCallum ordered that Lizana be held in the Clark County jail without bond.

He will be formally charged on Jan. 8, 2013, at another court appearance, McCallum ruled.

Lizana has been on probation since August. Clark County Circuit Court records show that Lizana was sentenced to five years on probation after pleading no contest to felony and misdemeanor theft charges for stealing a gray 2010 Honda Accord in June from outside the Suds Laundromat near 14th Street in Arkadelphia and a cell phone from a city skate park.

Police found the car that same night at the Mill Creek apartments and arrested Lizana riding a bicycle a short distance away.

According to an arrest affidavit, Lizana admitted to stealing the car, describing how he climbed into the vehicle through the passenger window and later used a towel to wipe down the back seat to remove fingerprints. He also admitted to stealing the cell phone at the park.

On Monday, investigators with the Arkansas State Police led Lizana into the courtroom. He wore a bright orange jumper emblazoned with “Clark County Jail” in bold black letters on the back.

Shackles hung around his waist and around his hands and feet. Two uniformed Arkansas State Police Troopers flanked Lizana the entire time.

In all, around a dozen law enforcement officials from different agencies stood near Lizana as the judge conducted the hearing.

The judge asked Lizana if he could afford an attorney.

“No sir,” Lizana replied.

McCallum then assigned him to the Clark County Public Defender’s office for representation.

Those two words were the only ones spoken by Lizana in court.

Clark County Prosecutor Blake Batson said after Lizana’s court appearance that he could not comment on the case “because we are still in the investigation mode right now. Formal charges have not even been filed yet. Once that happens, I might be able to tell you more.”

According to the affidavit, “a set of known finger and palm prints from Lizana were secured and were compared to the patent print from the door of the children’s room. The patent print was positively identified by a latent print examiner from the Arkansas State Crime Lab as belonging to Riakos Lizana.”

The blood-stained door that connected Lizana to the crime belonged to sisters Adiele Crutchfield and Marley Crutchfield, the affidavit said.

Galbraith’s 6-month old daughter - the Crutchfield girls’ baby stepsister - lay unharmed in a crib at the back of the house while most of her family was killed, the affidavit said.

Galbraith’s wife, Anna Galbraith, alerted authorities after coming home and discovering the body of her husband and Adiele Crutchfield, according to the affidavit.

She told officers at the scene that she couldn’t find Marley Crutchfield, but her body was soon discovered by investigators under a bed, the affidavit said.

Galbraith, 29, was divorced from the children’s father, Chad Crutchfield, 31, of Hot Springs, since July 2010 after two years of marriage, according to court records. He was granted visitation rights.

Information for this article was contributed by John Lynch of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Arkansas, Pages 9 on 12/11/2012

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