Ex-police chief held in slaying

Gateway mayor’s brother-in-law shot while on phone

A Benton County sheriff’s deputy accompanies Grant Hardin as he heads into the county courthouse in Bentonville for a bond hearing Friday.
A Benton County sheriff’s deputy accompanies Grant Hardin as he heads into the county courthouse in Bentonville for a bond hearing Friday.

Gateway Mayor Andrew Tillman was on the phone with his brother-in-law, who worked for the city, when the man was fatally shot by the town's former police chief, according to a probable-cause affidavit.

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Grant Hardin, 48, was arrested Friday on a capital-murder count. Hardin, who lives at 15617 Gann Ridge Road in the northeast part of the county between Garfield and Gateway, was being held without bail Friday at the Benton County jail.

James Appleton's body was found about 4:15 p.m. Thursday inside a white pickup on Gann Ridge Road, according to Benton County Sheriff Shawn Holloway.

Holloway said Thursday evening that Appleton, 59, had been shot in the head. The body has been sent to the state Crime Laboratory in Little Rock.

Holloway said the men knew each other but that a motive for the shooting was not known.

Tillman told police he was on the phone with Appleton at 3:59 p.m. Thursday talking about someone possibly vandalizing the city water tower when Tillman heard what sounded like a "loud slammed door," according to the affidavit. Tillman said Appleton quit talking after the noise, the affidavit said.

Another person found Appleton's body slumped over the steering wheel of the truck and called 911, according to the affidavit.

Tillman said the town has suffered a great loss.

"He did it all -- parks, streets," Tillman said.

County records show Hardin served two terms as constable for Benton County District 1, from 2009-10 and 2013-14. He was hired as the police chief for Gateway on Jan. 31, 2016, and resigned in May.

Northwest Arkansas Community Correction Center in Fayetteville hired Hardin as a correctional officer Nov. 21, said Dina Tyler, the agency's deputy director of communications and public affairs. She said the process to fire Hardin has started.

Hardin's arraignment is scheduled for April 4 in Benton County Circuit Court.

State Desk on 02/26/2017

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