HOT SPRINGS -- The first-degree murder trial of a man accused in the 2013 stabbing death of a Hot Springs man at Hollywood Park began Tuesday in Garland County Circuit Court.
Richard Dean "Bear" Bailey, 35, was arrested Nov. 6, 2013, after a Hot Springs police investigation into the death of Anthony Ray Ward, 42, of Hot Springs, whose body was found on the morning of July 10, 2013, on the Hot Springs Creek Greenway Trail where it passes through the park.
If convicted, Bailey could face life in prison.
In his opening statement, Deputy Prosecutor Joe Graham told the nine-woman, three-man jury that a local couple were jogging on the trail when they found the victim lying in a large pool of blood with a stab wound to his chest.
He said police developed Bailey and his girlfriend, Debbie Mullins, as possible suspects in the case and noted that when interviewed they gave "inconsistent statements."
Graham said Bailey admitted that he stabbed Ward, whom he described as raping or attempting to rape Mullins.
Graham said Bailey threw the knife into Hot Springs Creek and that he and Mullins disposed of clothing and other evidence in a large trash bin, noting they never made any attempt to contact police or medical personnel.
He also noted that Bailey was wearing disposable gloves when he stabbed Ward, which were found at the crime scene and later matched to him.
"There was no rape or attempted rape or self-defense," he said. "This was murder."
Mark Fraiser, Bailey's court-appointed attorney, told the jury the state "puts a lot of weight on the gloves," but argued that Bailey had been at the hospital the day before the stabbing because he cut his finger and it got infected. He said he had obtained several pairs of disposable gloves while there to wear to keep the cut from getting further infected.
He also noted that without the rape allegation, Bailey had "no other motive" to kill Ward. He said Bailey and Mullins were "not affluent" and didn't have a car, and were walking home along the Greenway that night after leaving the hospital.
Fraiser said Mullins had stopped to go the restroom in the park while Bailey waited for her. Fraiser said she was then accosted by Ward, who first asked to borrow her phone and then attacked her. She started screaming, and Bailey "ran over to help her" and ended up stabbing Ward.
He said they ran away afterward and admitted they didn't call police, but they noted "they didn't know [Ward] was dead and didn't know if he would be coming back to find them."
He pointed out that there was no robbery and questioned what Ward was doing there at that time of night.
"It will be up to you to decide what's reasonable or not," he said, noting that Bailey saw his girlfriend being attacked and "did what was necessary to stop it."
A Hot Springs police officer testified that he was part of the crime scene unit investigating and that the unit traced "spots of blood" leading from where the victim's body was found back to an overlook above the creek, where they found a larger amount of blood.
He said they found a pair of disposable gloves on the ground near the overlook that was collected along with other evidence. He said they also found a knife in Ward's pants pocket that appeared to have blood on it.
Another officer testified they found clothing items belonging to Bailey and Mullins in the dumpster at the Relax Inn, 815 Park Ave., where they were staying. He noted a woman's shirt apparently belonging to Mullins was ripped. Another disposable glove identical to the ones found at the scene was found in Bailey's discarded pants.
Brian Hale testified that he and his children were wading in the creek on the afternoon of July 10 and he found a "Rambo-style" knife submerged 1 or 2 inches deep in the water. He said he initially planned to keep it, but when he heard about the homicide the next day he called police.
A Hot Springs police detective testified that he recovered the knife from Hale, who led him to where he had found it. He noted the part of the creek where it was found was about 75 yards north of the crime scene.
Dr. Adam Craig, an associate medical examiner from the state Crime Laboratory, testified that Ward was killed by a single stab wound to the chest on the left front side near his nipple. He noted that the blade traveled through the soft tissue and the left rib cage, and entered the left chest cavity.
The major damage was that the blade "almost completely cut off" the very apex, or tip, of the heart, which would have caused bleeding back into the chest cavity. He said Ward would have had trouble breathing and would have been lightheaded before finally passing out and dying within a few minutes.
He noted that even if the injury had occurred in the emergency room of a hospital where immediate medical care could have been rendered, it "would have been hard to save his life."
The trial is scheduled to resume today at 8:30 a.m. with Judge John Homer Wright presiding. Deputy prosecutor Jason Johnson is also representing the state.
State Desk on 04/29/2015