LITTLE ROCK — A woman arrested in the killing of two men whose bodies were found buried behind a Traskwood home has entered a guilty plea.
Prosecuting Attorney Ken Casady said Marissa Wright pleaded guilty Wednesday morning before Judge Gary Arnold in a deal that had her sentenced to two life sentences. She had been charged with capital murder, but the counts were reduced to first-degree murder in the deal. A kidnapping charge was also dropped.
Casady said the plea deal was reached in close consultation with the victims' families.
"This brings closure and that brings the end of what would be a long time of litigation in a capital case," he said. "The families were at peace with this negotiation and this resolution. Because they're pleased, I'm pleased to do what's good for the state."
Wright and Jay Beeson were charged after police in October 2011 found the bodies of 53-year-old Randal C. Anderson and 39-year-old Joe Lee Richards Jr. buried at 2902 W. Main St., where Wright lived.
Police say a tip initially led them to the home and Wright later confessed to the murders and said both bodies were buried in the yard.
Investigators believe Anderson was killed in 2008. Richards, the son of Benton Alderman Joe Lee Richards Sr., had been reported missing about a year before his body was found.
The prosecutor's office said Beeson has not reached a plea deal.
Wright, who is not expected to testify against Beeson, did speak during the brief hearing, but only to answer questions from the judge. Nothing she said could be "characterized as expressing remorse," Casady said.
He said the motives for the killings remain somewhat unclear. Wright had accused Anderson of stealing jewelry or other items from her, Casady said.
"But she never accused him of anything that should have brought about what happened to him or what happened to Mr. Richards," he said.
A third suspect in the case, 53-year-old Myra Terry, was arrested and charged with hindering apprehension, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence in Richards' death. Beeson is charged only in the Anderson case.