HOT SPRINGS — A man charged in the 2011 death of an Arkansas police dispatcher has pleaded innocent to first-degree murder.
Kevin Duck faces the murder charge in his girlfriend Dawna Natzke's death.
One of Duck's lawyers, T. Clay Janske, said Duck appeared in court Monday and pleaded innocent.
Natzke was a police dispatcher in the central Arkansas community of Hot Springs Village.
Authorities say she was last seen alive with Duck at a Christmas party Dec. 21, 2011. Volunteer searchers found her body days later on New Year's Eve.
A medical examiner said Natzke died within a few hours of leaving the holiday party. An autopsy found she died from blunt force trauma and drowning.
Duck is being held in Garland County jail in lieu of $250,000 bond.