CONWAY -- A third defendant accused of murdering a Conway couple last summer has asked that his case be transferred to juvenile court.
Connor Atchley, 17, of Greenbrier is charged with two counts each of first-degree murder and felony theft by receiving in the July 21 shooting deaths of Robert and Patricia Cogdell, both 66. Atchley, who had turned 17 one day before the killings, and his co-defendants are charged as adults.
Attorneys for Justin Staton, 15, of Conway and Anastasia Roberts, 17, of Conway already had filed motions seeking transfer to juvenile court. The only defendant who had not done so as of Thursday afternoon was the oldest, Hunter Drexler, who was 17 when the shootings occurred and has since turned 18.
Atchley's attorney, Frank Shaw, wrote in a motion filed with the Faulkner County circuit clerk's office Wednesday that he made the request after conducting "a reasonably diligent investigation of both the allegations presented and the background of the Defendant." Shaw said he "believes that clear and convincing evidence does exist warranting a transfer of jurisdiction in the present matter."
Judge Troy Braswell, presiding in circuit court, has not ruled on any of the transfer motions. He will hold a hearing on each one before he makes a decision.
Shaw noted that Atchley is in the county jail's juvenile detention facility and asked that Atchley's hearing be held within 30 days.
Roberts, who is Atchley's girlfriend, also is charged with two counts each of first-degree murder and felony theft by receiving.
Drexler and Staton are charged with two counts each of capital murder, abuse of a corpse, aggravated robbery and theft of property by threat.
Also Wednesday, the prosecuting attorney's office filed an amended felony information listing the charges against Drexler.
Each of the two capital-murder charges originally filed against Drexler in August alleged that on July 21 he committed or attempted to commit aggravated robbery "and in the course of and in furtherance of the felony or in immediate flight therefrom, he or an accomplice caused the death of a person under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life."
Now, those charges add an alternative situation under which a jury could find Drexler guilty of capital murder -- premeditation. The revised charges repeat the previous allegations and then say, "or with the premeditated and deliberated purpose of causing the death of another person, he, or an accomplice caused the death of another person."
The Cogdells had been Staton's legal guardians since 2010 and had thought they were his paternal grandparents until DNA testing proved otherwise in 2008. Staton was 14 at the time of the killings.
State Desk on 04/15/2016