Took body of woman to N.C., killer says

HOT SPRINGS -- A Gurdon man pleaded guilty Monday afternoon in federal court to choking a 20-year-old woman, leading to her death, and then transporting her body through three states.

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Kevin Bolton, 39, pleaded guilty to one count of kidnapping resulting in death during an appearance in U.S. District Court in Hot Springs.

Court records show that Bolton and Cassandra "Cassie" Carter left a Gurdon apartment around midnight March 12, 2013. They later argued, and he then choked her in Clark County, resulting in Carter's death, court records show.

He then drove Carter's vehicle, with her body in the trunk, to Cherokee, N.C., where he was arrested March 20 after a traffic stop.

Bolton, who was arraigned in federal court in February 2014 after his indictment the previous month, originally entered an innocent plea. He changed his plea during Monday's appearance before U.S. District Judge Susan Hickey.

Bolton is expected to be sentenced later this summer and faces life imprisonment.

"Today, justice has been served for Cassie, for this brutal crime," said Conner Eldridge, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of Arkansas. "It's really a reprehensible, horrendous thing that occurred ... in small-town Arkansas."

About 20 of Carter's family members and friends gathered in the courtroom for the plea change. When Bolton changed his plea, sniffles could be heard coming from the group. Some of Carter's supporters wore buttons featuring a smiling, then 18-year-old Carter along with her nickname and the years "1992-2013."

Bolton was quiet throughout the short court proceeding, except to answer Hickey either with, "Yes, ma'am" or "No, ma'am."

After the trial, Carter's mother, Kim King, said Bolton's plea delivered the justice "that Cassie deserved."

"He will never hurt anyone again," King said of Bolton.

King described Carter as "always smiling, always happy, no matter her mood or what she was going through."

"She was friendly to everybody," King said. "She loved everybody. She was the kindest person."

Carter leaves behind a 3-year-old son, King said.

Clark County Sheriff Jason Watson called the kidnapping and death of Carter "a very sad case that involved a young lady who had her whole life ahead of her."

"I think [Bolton's conviction] sends a very strong message that if you engage in this type of conduct that you can expect this kind of result," Watson said.

According to Bolton's plea agreement, Carter visited an apartment where Bolton was present on March 12, 2013, and the two left around midnight in Carter's vehicle, witnesses said. When King couldn't reach Carter by cellphone after multiple attempts, she filed a missing person's report with Gurdon police March 13.

Authorities issued a "be-on-the-lookout" bulletin for Bolton, Carter and her vehicle, the agreement states. After learning Bolton had friends on the Cherokee Indian Reservation in North Carolina, authorities sent the bulletin to the Cherokee Indian Police Department.

On March 20, Cherokee police spotted Carter's vehicle, with Bolton driving, and attempted to stop it, according to the plea agreement. After a short automobile and foot chase, Bolton was arrested.

Carter's body was found in the vehicle's trunk after police noticed a strong odor coming from it.

Her cause of death was ruled asphyxiation due to strangulation, the plea agreement states.

During a post-Miranda rights interview conducted by Watson in North Carolina, Bolton said that he and Carter left the apartment so he get could hydrocodone pills for Carter, according to the agreement. Bolton told Carter that he could get the pills only if Carter had sex with him.

Carter resisted before relenting and having sex with Bolton, according to the interview. But "while engaged in sex inside Carter's vehicle, Carter started crying, became upset and said she no longer wanted any pills," the plea agreement states.

Carter pushed Bolton from her vehicle, and the two argued until Bolton grabbed Carter around the neck and started choking her, according to the agreement. Bolton said he choked Carter until he thought she was dead and put her in the backseat of her vehicle.

While driving the car, Bolton heard "gagging and choking." He stopped the vehicle and choked Carter again before putting her in the trunk of the vehicle, the plea agreement states. Bolton also said he took $25 from Carter, her driver's license and a "food voucher card."

The agreement states that Bolton "believed Carter was still alive when he placed her inside the trunk and began driving out of Clark County" toward Little Rock.

Bolton told Watson that he spent time in Little Rock with "strangers he met on the street" before driving to Cherokee to visit a friend. While in Cherokee, Bolton parked the car to hide the rear license plate and "told people the trunk of the vehicle could not be opened because it was bolted shut."

According to the plea agreement, Bolton told Watson that he was "sorry that he had killed Cassandra Carter, he wanted to apologize to her family and was willing to 'give his life for hers.'"

State Desk on 06/30/2015

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