HOT SPRINGS -- The last of three people charged in the 2013 stabbing death of a 71-year-old Jessieville man was sentenced to 40 years in prison Monday after pleading guilty in Garland County Circuit Court.
Chestly Wayne Gaston Jr., who turns 23 next week, was set to stand trial beginning Tuesday on a charge of first-degree murder in the July 9, 2013, death of Dan Roberson, and could have faced 10 to 40 years or life in prison.
One accomplice, Ethan Patrick Sallee, 20, was convicted of the same charge Jan. 21 after a two-day trial in circuit court and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
The second accomplice, Robert William Glover Jr., 18, pleaded guilty to the charge Jan. 28 and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
All three were from Jessieville.
Deputy prosecutor Joe Graham said the evidence presented would have shown Gaston was involved in the robbery of Roberson, "but there was some doubt as to who actually killed him."
Glover had agreed to testify against Gaston as part of his plea deal, but Sallee is appealing his case and couldn't have been compelled to testify.
According to previous reports, family reported Roberson missing July 9, 2013. After an extensive search, his body was found July 13 beside a remote road in northern Garland County.
That same day, Glover, then 17, and Sallee, then 18, were each charged with capital murder in the death. Gaston was arrested three days later in Texas, but it was several months before he was extradited back to Hot Springs.
State Desk on 07/08/2015