A Pope County man was charged Thursday with first-degree murder in the slaying in June of another man after bragging to a police informant about the killing, according to an affidavit.
Johnson County Circuit Court records show Christopher Gerald Weston, 37, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, one count accusing him of purposely causing the death of 34-year-old Ricky Partin and another count accusing him of causing Partin's death during the commission of a theft.
Circuit Judge William Pearson issued an order to pick up Weston from the Arkansas Department of Correction and deliver him to Johnson County for a court appearance in Clarksville today.
Prison records show Weston was being held at the North Central Unit at Calico Rock, where he began serving a 10-year sentence Oct. 7. Records show he has a release date of July 17, 2019.
The records show Weston was sentenced on 2015 and 2016 charges in Johnson and Pope counties of possession of methamphetamine or cocaine with intent to deliver, simultaneous possession of drugs and firearms, possession of drug paraphernalia, theft, being a felon in possession of a firearm, fleeing and with being an habitual offender.
A probable cause affidavit by Arkansas State Police investigator Mark Brice said Partin was killed June 10 and his severely decomposed body was found June 22 on private property near Big Piney Creek. Officers found seven 9mm shell casings near the body.
Two days before Partin's body was found, Weston, driving a white Buick, got into a car chase with a Pope County sheriff's deputy, according to the affidavit. He was arrested near Flatrock in Johnson County.
The Buick was impounded and later searched. The affidavit said property belonging to Partin was found inside, including three of his checkbooks, his Social Security card, driver's license and vehicle registration.
Investigators obtained Partin's bank records. A video from a bank in Little Rock showed Weston attempting to cash checks from Partin's bank account June 11, the day after Partin disappeared.
According to the affidavit, Partin was last seen June 10 leaving a Pope County man's home and driving his white Chevrolet pickup with his dog and Weston. At the time, the affidavit said, Weston was wearing an armored vest and carrying what appeared to be a 9mm handgun.
An informant told Brice that Weston admitted to him June 12 he killed Partin. Weston also gave the informant the location where he left Partin's body.
The informant gave the information to London Police Chief JoAnn Demmitt in Pope County on June 22, two days after Weston was arrested, and Demmitt passed the information on to the Johnson County sheriff's office.
The affidavit said Brice learned from a woman Weston painted Partin's white pickup black and then abandoned it in a bean field in Yell County.
The woman told Brice she had followed Weston in her white Buick to Yell County where he abandoned the pickup and she picked him up. Weston then took possession of the Buick, the affidavit said.
On June 23, the day after Partin's body was found, investigators found Partin's pickup. They found a fingerprint left by Weston in the paint in the bed of the truck, the affidavit said.
NW News on 01/06/2017