CONWAY -- The youngest of four teenagers accused of killing the couple who raised him as a grandson pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and other charges Tuesday in a deal that a prosecutor said provides "substantial" evidence against co-defendant Hunter Drexler.
Justin Staton, 15, was sentenced to 35 years in prison after he pleaded in Faulkner County Circuit Court to two counts each of first-degree murder, aggravated robbery, theft of property by threat and abuse of a corpse. Staton, who was 14 at the time of the crime, had been charged as an adult with capital murder, which could have led to life in prison without parole.
Handcuffed and shackled, Staton wiped away tears as he took the witness stand. His face unshaven and at times quivering with emotion, Staton answered Judge Troy Braswell's questions softly, directly and without elaboration. The boy declined to make a statement of his own.
Authorities said Staton, Drexler, now 18, and two other teenagers fatally shot Patricia and Robert Cogdell, both 66, at their home in west Conway on July 21. The Cogdells had been Staton's legal guardians since 2010 and had thought he was their grandson until genetic testing in 2008 proved their son, Shane Cogdell, was not the boy's father.
Braswell told Staton that the Cogdells loved him like a son and paid "the greatest price" for that love.
"I hope for every day for the rest of your life, you think about them, because they loved you ... and the thanks you gave them was murder," Braswell told Staton.
Attorneys reached the plea agreement after Staton provided the prosecutor's office with the pass-code to his iPod and, as a result, the text messages he and Drexler had shared with each other about the killings, Chief Prosecuting Attorney Hugh Finkelstein told Braswell.
Those messages provide "substantial information" that linked Drexler to the homicides, said Finkelstein, who declined later to discuss any specific texts.
Without the pass-codes, investigators had been unable to access the contents of Staton's iPod and Drexler's iPhone. They still haven't unlocked Drexler's device, Finkelstein said.
Staton also has agreed to testify if needed in the other defendants' cases.
Drexler, of Clinton, faces the same charges as Staton, except for first-degree murder. Drexler is still charged with the more serious capital murder. If convicted of that offense, Drexler could face life in prison without parole or a lesser sentence. He cannot face the death penalty because, at 17, Drexler was a minor when the shootings occurred.
The other teens, Connor Atchley, 17, of Greenbrier and his girlfriend, Anastasia Roberts, 17, of Conway, are charged as adults with two counts each of first-degree murder and felony theft by receiving.
In detailing the "factual basis" for the plea to the judge, Finkelstein said Staton, Drexler and Atchley planned to rob and kill the Cogdells "in order to get money to help them run away from Arkansas."
Drexler supplied the guns that were used to kill the Cogdells, Finkelstein said.
"After the Cogdells were shot, Hunter Drexler wrapped the body of Robert Cogdell in a rug and Justin used a front [end] loader to move his body to the tree line on the property," Finkelstein said. "The front [end] loader was also used to move Patricia Cogdell's body to the tree line. Both bodies were dumped in the woods."
Drexler took more than $3,000 in cash and credit cards from Robert Cogdell's pockets after cutting them open and used more than $700 of it at a nearby Wal-Mart Supercenter to pay for a cellphone and prepaid minutes, Finkelstein said. Authorities have not found that phone, which was in addition to the iPhone that authorities have.
Finkelstein said that after leaving the store, Staton, Drexler, Atchley and Roberts went to the house of Staton's maternal grandfather in Conway. Atchley and Roberts had expected to receive money and a vehicle, according to Finkelstein.
When police arrested Staton the next day, Robert Cogdell's blood was on the boy's shirt and shoes, Finkelstein said. Police in Texas arrested the other teenagers later.
Faulkner County Prosecuting Attorney Cody Hiland said in a statement that the state believes it has determined the culpability related to each of the four teenagers. He called Staton's plea "the first step pursuing that theory of the case."
Staton will serve his sentence in the state's Youth Services Division until he turns 16, when he will be transferred to a state prison. He could have faced 10 to 40 years or life in prison for first-degree murder.
Defense attorneys Gina Reynolds and Charlotte Aceituno Bogan said the agreement precludes an appeal and means Staton will not be eligible for parole until he has served 70 percent of his sentence, or 24.5 years.
"Being eligible for parole gives him a shot at a life," Reynolds said.
Two children sat quietly in the audience as did relatives of the Cogdells and Staton. Among them was Staton's maternal grandfather, Randy Staton of Conway, who is charged with felony hindering apprehension or prosecution over events after the shootings. Justin Staton's mother, Melissa Staton, is already in prison for unrelated drug crimes and the same hindering charge as her father.
The Cogdells' adult daughter, Lindi Weaver, said after the hearing that she had been advised earlier of the plea agreement and accepted it. She said she has not been visiting Justin in jail. When asked if she had forgiven him, she replied, "Oh, yes."
Her brother, Shane Cogdell, did not attend the hearing, but Reynolds said Shane Cogdell has been most supportive of her client.
"Justin still loves him like a father," she said, noting that the boy's middle name is Shane.
"This is a tragic situation, and we're just glad" it is over, Reynolds said.
Information for this article was contributed by John Moritz of Arkansas Online.
A Section on 05/11/2016