BENTONVILLE -- A January jury trial was scheduled Monday for a Bentonville man accused of killing his grandmother last summer.
Michael Eugene Conklin, 27, is charged with capital murder and aggravated robbery. He had earlier pleaded innocent to the charges.
He is accused of killing Nelma Darline Conklin, 76, in her Bentonville home. Stab wounds on her neck were the cause of death, according to court documents. Prosecutors will seek the death penalty.
Circuit Judge Robin Green scheduled Conklin's jury trial to begin Jan. 19. A pretrial hearing is set for Jan. 11.
A motions hearing is set for Sept. 18.
Conklin's attorneys have filed a motion seeking to suppress the statement he gave to Bentonville police detectives.
The suppression motion claims the State Hospital found Conklin has an IQ of 76 and the waiver of Conklin's Miranda rights was not given voluntarily, knowingly nor intelligently and Conklin's statement should be excluded from being used as evidence at trial.
Police went to Nelma Conklin's home for a welfare check July 20. She hadn't been to work at the Wal-Mart store on Pleasant Grove Road in Rogers since July 14. A co-worker was unable to contact her and called police.
Police found her dead in the garage of her home at 3300 S.W. Elm Manor Ave. Her body was concealed by trash bags and pieces of cardboard, according to a probable-cause affidavit.
Michael Conklin lived with his grandmother. He was arrested several days later in Saline County after police found his grandmother's body.
Police interviewed Nelma Conklin's family and co-workers and learned she and her grandson hadn't been getting along, according to court documents.
Michael Conklin is being held without bond in the Benton County Jail.
He could be sentenced to life imprisonment or the death penalty if convicted of capital murder. He faces from 10 to 40 years or life imprisonment if convicted of aggravated robbery.
Metro on 08/04/2015