BOONEVILLE -- A Polk County man was sentenced to 30 years in prison Monday after pleading guilty in the April 2015 death of a rural Logan County man shot during a robbery.
Nick Stoicu III, 41, of Mena entered his guilty plea before Logan County Circuit Judge Jerry Don Ramey to a charge of second-degree murder.
Stoicu initially was charged along with Joseph Oliah Hals Brown, 33, also of Mena, with first-degree murder, aggravated robbery and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Deputy prosecutor Brian Mueller dismissed the robbery and firearms charges in return for Stoicu's plea to the murder charge.
Stoicu was scheduled to go to trial on the charges in Circuit Court in Booneville on Wednesday. The jury trial was scheduled for two days.
Stoicu was one of five people charged in the April, 2, 2015, shooting death of Ritchie Lee Lynch, 60, outside his home at 1575 Glover Daniels Road, north of Booneville. An autopsy report showed Lynch had been shot five times.
Brown pleaded no contest on June 3 to a reduced charge of second-degree murder under a plea agreement with the prosecuting attorney, and Ramey sentenced him to 30 years in prison.
Also on June 3, Teresa Bennett, 36, of Booneville pleaded guilty to robbery, reduced from aggravated robbery, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Two others are awaiting trial in the case. Robert Melton, 52, of Waldron, is scheduled to go on trial July 15 in Booneville on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated robbery and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He has been held in lieu of $100,000 bond since his arrest Feb. 29.
Dave Ann Townsend, 37, of Pine Bluff, is scheduled to go on trial July 29 in Booneville on a charge of aggravated robbery. She is being held in the Logan County jail in lieu of $50,000 bond.
An Arkansas State Police arrest warrant affidavit said the five drove to Lynch's home on April 2, 2015, to steal money and drugs.
The affidavit said Bennett directed Brown, who was driving a van, to continue past Lynch's driveway and park down the road in a clearing under a power line.
Stoicu and Brown, armed with a rifle and pistol, and Melton walked through the woods to Lynch's property, according to the affidavit. Melton waited by the gate to Lynch's property while Stoicu and Brown continued on to Lynch's house.
Minutes later, Melton and the women heard gunfire from the direction of Lynch's house, and Stoicu and Brown returned with a duffel bag, according to the affidavit. The affidavit quoted Bennett saying Stoicu told the others '"it was done and it went bad.'"
The group went back to Melton's home in Waldron, where the men went into the bedroom with the duffel bag to split up the money and disassemble the guns, the affidavit said. Melton told investigators he was offered $800 and some methamphetamine but refused them.
Melton, Townsend and Bennett were listed as witnesses against Stoicu and Brown in a trial set for them in mid-February. When the three backed out, according to the prosecuting attorney's office, they were charged in the case and the trial was delayed.
State Desk on 06/28/2016