Order seeks DNA of ex-police chief in '11 Arkansas murder case

Kevin Duck
Kevin Duck

HOT SPRINGS -- A court order has been issued for a DNA sample from a former Hot Springs police chief in the trial of a man accused in the 2011 death of a Hot Springs Village police dispatcher.

Kevin Conway Duck, 33, is to stand trial beginning Tuesday in the death of his girlfriend, Dawna Natzke, 46, whose body was found Dec. 31, 2011, submerged in a pond near Jessieville.

Garland County Circuit Judge John Homer Wright issued the order Tuesday requiring the state to get a DNA sample from David Flory to be submitted to the state Crime Laboratory "for comparison to the DNA located on the victim's clothing and any other DNA samples obtained during the investigation of the case," the order states.

The order was issued in response to a motion filed Monday by Duck's attorneys, T. Clay Janske and Brian Johnson, requesting that a DNA sample found on the victim, which had already been tested against Duck and three other people, be compared to Flory's DNA profile.

The motion says Flory "had a relationship with the victim and was a person of interest in the murder of the victim."

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A gag order limiting any pretrial publicity in the case was issued Wednesday morning by Wright, so Janske said he could not comment on the latest developments.

The motion noted that Duck "just became aware of any such DNA profile on the victim and is not filing this motion as a delay tactic in this case." The motion also noted DNA recently had been collected from Duck's mother and son.

Flory, who was Hot Springs police chief from Feb. 28, 2011, until his retirement Nov. 30, 2015, was said to be out of state Wednesday.

Flory previously told The Sentinel-Record, shortly before his retirement, that he planned to spend time teaching for the Justice Department and in other areas of law enforcement training.

Duck, who was arrested Nov. 25, 2013, nearly two years after Natzke's body was found, was last set to stand trial Jan. 30. The trial was postponed after Janske filed a motion arguing DNA test results were not back from the Crime Lab and more time was needed to discuss additional evidence prosecutors delivered Jan. 25.

The trial has been rescheduled multiple times since it was first set for July 22, 2014.

The arrest warrant issued against Duck relied heavily on phone records and witness testimony about Duck's whereabouts as evidence supporting the arrest. No DNA evidence was cited in the original warrant.

State Desk on 03/23/2017

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