Murderer who escaped for 3 months set for February trial

Timothy Buffington, center, appears before Jefferson County Circuit Judge Jodi Raines Dennis on Wednesday morning, Oct. 1, 2014.
Timothy Buffington, center, appears before Jefferson County Circuit Judge Jodi Raines Dennis on Wednesday morning, Oct. 1, 2014.

PINE BLUFF — Timothy Buffington, the murderer who escaped from an Arkansas prison and spent about three months on the lam before being recaptured last month, appeared in court Wednesday for the first time on charges tied to his escape.

Buffington, 48, was advised of the new charges against him — kidnapping, escape, theft of property and aggravated assault — and a preliminary innocent plea was automatically entered on his behalf during the brief hearing before Jefferson County Circuit Judge Jodi Raines Dennis.

A Feb. 7 trial date was also set.

Buffington spoke briefly during the several-minute proceeding, telling Dennis he does not intend to hire an attorney and has no income or property that could pay for one. She then ordered he be represented by a public defender.

Buffington at one point misunderstood the trial date, questioning why it had to be more than a year away before the judge corrected him.

"I'm glad," he said. "I didn't want this to draw out. There's no use drawing it out. I'd like to move this on as quick as possible."

He added later that there are "things [he] did" but he's also "been accused of certain things he didn't do."

Two officials stood guard a few feet from Buffington during the hearing, while another was at the door and several others were in the jury box.

Kyle Hunter, prosecuting attorney for the 11th Judicial District, said the extra security was the decision of the Arkansas Department of Correction.

"Obviously, we don't want anything to happen where someone might be hurt or he might have a chance to escape again, but I don't think there was any real fear that that would happen today," he said.

Buffington, a native of Booneville, was working a maintenance assignment at a house on the grounds of the Arkansas Department of Correction's Pine Bluff Unit on June 21 when he stole a shotgun from the property and fled, according to officials. He tried to force a prison employee who lived at the house to drive him away, but she escaped and called 911, officials said.

For weeks after Buffington's escape, multiple state and local agencies, along with Correction Department officers, scoured an area near Pine Bluff for him.

Someone who knew Buffington saw him Sept. 18 and reported the sighting to state police at a roadblock along Arkansas 10 and Arkansas 60 in Logan County; he surrendered to an Arkansas State Police trooper west of Booneville that morning.

Buffington began serving a 20-year first-degree murder sentence in 1998, after a jury convicted him of shooting his ex-wife with a high-powered rifle in Logan County.

Online news editor Katie Doherty contributed to this story.

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