A 37-year-old Arkansan was sentenced Monday to slightly more than three years in prison in the 2016 fatal stabbing of a man.
Jeffery William Newell of Mena pleaded no contest to manslaughter in the death of Hugh J. Strozier. Newell, who has been in custody since his arrest last year, has already served 296 days of his 40-month sentence.
According to an affidavit, he called the Scott County sheriff's office Sept. 18, 2016, to say that he “was in an altercation with a guy and had to stab him."
When officers arrived at Newell’s home, they found a body in the bedroom.
Newell told police that he and Strozier had been drinking when an argument began and Strozier tried to strangle him, the affidavit states.
Newell reportedly said he slashed a knife across Strozier’s neck as Strozier knocked him back onto the bed — but police said the stab wound and the blood pattern on the bed didn’t match that story.
Court records show that Newell’s attorney attempted to suppress the statements Newell made to officers after his arrest, arguing that they did not immediately read him his Miranda rights and should have stopped questioning him after he requested a lawyer.
Though Newell was originally charged with first-degree murder, the charge was changed to manslaughter during plea negotiations.
