Pulaski County Circuit Judge Chris Piazza doled out decades of prison time to a man who pleaded guilty Tuesday morning to repeatedly stabbing an officer while in custody last summer.
Christopher Galen Forsyth, 39, was being transported by a Hot Spring County sheriff's deputy to the UAMS Medical Center for a doctor's appointment in July when, in an elevator, Forsyth produced a homemade shank and stabbed the lawman numerous times in the face, neck, back and head while saying, "I'm going to kill you," prosecutors said.
Sheriff's Deputy Christopher Hunt was transporting the inmate for medical attention after Forsyth's eye was injured in a fight at the Hot Spring County jail. But an "eerie feeling" overcame Hunt as he escorted the inmate into the building and through an empty foyer, "just this gut feeling that something was about to happen," Hunt said in an interview.
Their altercation began as the elevator doors opened to the sixth floor. As Hunt began to exit, Forsyth plunged a shank into his neck, Hunt said.
"I got back on the elevator and I pushed him into the corner and said, 'what the f * * * do you think you're doing? And he said 'I'm going to f * * * * * * kill you,' and I said, 'not today,'" Hunt explained.
They struggled against each other as the elevator continued to ascend, Hunt said. When they reached the ninth floor, Hunt threw Forsyth out of the elevator and into a wall, where he eventually pepper-sprayed the inmate and gained control.
"He stabbed me on the right side of my neck, 1 centimeter away from my jugular and 1 centimeter away from my trachea. He stabbed me in the chin, the forehead, he almost cut my ear completely off, he stabbed me in the back of the head and dug it across the backside of my neck," Hunt said.
Hunt received medical attention for the next nine hours and was on medical leave for nearly a month during his recovery.
The shank Forsyth used was fashioned out of a metal piece from a mop at the jail, "sharpened on the walls and floor," Hunt said.
Through his public defender, Kent Krause, Forsyth accepted a 35-year sentence for one charge of first-degree battery and 15 years for terroristic threatening and possession of a weapon by an incarcerated person. In exchange, prosecutors dropped one charge of attempted capital murder.
The sentences will run concurrently with a 40-year term and a 20-year term Forsyth received from a Hot Spring County circuit judge about two weeks before the stabbing. For those sentences, Forsyth pleaded guilty to four counts of child rape and two counts of sexual assault.
Arkansas authorities first became aware of the sexual assaults on July 12, 2015, when the mother of one of the victims, aged 12, contacted the Hot Spring County sheriff's office. But investigators soon discovered Forsyth had already fled his home in Donaldson.
It wasn't until July 19 that investigators learned of his whereabouts. Forsyth had been apprehended by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in a rural area just north of the Minnesota-Canada border. With his 11-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son in tow, they were found asking for water when they were picked up by Canadian border police, according to a police report.
During an interview with Canadian authorities, "Christopher Forsyth made a spontaneous utterance by stating 'can I be honest with you?' Forsyth stated the real reason he was in Canada [was] that he was the focus of an investigation in Donaldson, Arkansas regarding a 12-year-old female," the police report read.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police contacted the Hot Spring County sheriff's office, and Forsyth was eventually extradited to Arkansas on rape charges.
Forensic interviews of his two victims found that he had been molesting and raping an 11-year-old girl for two years, offering her $20 for oral sex several times a week. Forsyth also sexually assaulted another 11-year-old girl in the same manner, in addition to collecting nude photos of her, according to police reports.
On Tuesday, the Forsyth stood for no longer than 10 minutes before Piazza as attorneys laid out their plea agreement. After Piazza read the sentence, Forsyth spoke up.
"May I say something?" he interjected.
"I would like to take the time to both formally and publicly renounce my citizenship from the United States, and all the rights that it entails," Forsyth loudly declared to the room.
"As you wish," Piazza said.
Metro on 06/14/2017