Couple's actions at party dominate first day of trial for man accused of killing Arkansas dispatcher

This Dec. 10, 2013 booking photo provided by the Garland County Sheriff's office in Hot Springs, Ark. shows inmate Kevin Duck.
This Dec. 10, 2013 booking photo provided by the Garland County Sheriff's office in Hot Springs, Ark. shows inmate Kevin Duck.

HOT SPRINGS -- Red wine and Miller Lite beer dominated the testimony of state witnesses Tuesday on the first day of trial for a man accused of killing a Hot Springs Village police dispatcher more than five years ago.

Jury selection in the first-degree murder trial of Kevin Duck, 33, took about three hours before seven women, five men and two alternates, both men, were seated.

Duck is accused of killing his girlfriend Dawna Natzke, whose battered body was found Dec. 31, 2011, submerged in a pond near the Jessieville community in northern Garland County.

The prosecution, led by Garland County deputy prosecutors Joe Graham and Shana Alexander, called a quick succession of 15 witnesses by the time Circuit Judge Homer Wright recessed for the day just minutes before 5 p.m.

Testimony centered on a Christmas party held Dec. 21, 2011, at the Hot Springs Village home of Scott Randall, which was the last place Natzke was seen alive. In opening arguments, Alexander told jurors that Duck's treatment of Natzke at the party made others uncomfortable. She recounted how Duck "never let her out of his sight," even barging into the bathroom where Natzke went to talk with her best friend.

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The last time anyone saw Natzke alive was when Duck angrily "pushed" her out the front door, leaving Natzke's mother, Doris Smith, behind, and not saying goodnight to anyone, Alexander said.

Some state witnesses, though, said Duck and Natzke hugged the necks of party guests and shook their hands before walking through the door. Others said the couple seemed happy and that Duck acted lovingly toward Natzke, putting his arm around her and drawing her close.

Still other witnesses, like Adrianne Dickson, who did not know either Duck or Natzke before meeting them at the party, said the tension between the couple was palpable. Dickson said she walked up on Natzke, who was cornered in a hallway with Duck in front of her grasping her arm.

"You could tell they were arguing," Dickson said.

Patty Hathaway, Natzke's best friend, said she was so concerned about Duck's controlling treatment of Natzke that she texted Natzke the next morning to say she didn't like how Duck had pushed her out the door. She received a reply from Natzke's cellphone that had misspelled words and a lack of punctuation. Hathaway testified that she did not believe the text message was from Natzke, because her friend was usually meticulous about grammar and spelling in her texts.

In his cross-examination, defense attorney Brian Johnson asked Hathaway if she had ever had sexual relations with Duck. Hathaway replied, "Never."

Johnson also read from a statement Hathaway gave investigators that said Duck had called Hathaway after Natzke disappeared and "seemed like he was crying."

Both the prosecution and the defense quizzed each witness on what Duck and Natzke were drinking at the party. Most of the witnesses said it was well known that Natzke liked Miller Lite. As for Duck, most testified that he was drinking red wine from a glass wine goblet.

Jason Reynolds testified that Duck had his wine glass in his hand when he went out the door with Natzke that night.

After the party, Sharon Randall had found a stem from a broken wine glass outside her home and a "splatter" stain on the side of the brick house. When Randall said from the stand that the splatter stain on the brick looked like someone had gotten angry and smashed the wine glass against the brick, the defense objected. Randall had placed the wine glass stem in the garbage where it was later collected by investigators.

With each witness, Johnson and fellow defense attorney T. Clay Janske asked about Natzke's drinking habits. Johnson asked Natzke's youngest son, Brandon Natzke, if his mother would drink every night.

"Not towards the end, no," he answered.

Later, Johnson asked Natzke's son Arin Natzke if his mother "drinks regularly." He replied yes.

When Nicholas Sarver testified that he knew Dawna Natzke because she frequents a business that he owns, Johnson asked him to name the business. Alexander objected, but the judge overruled.

"I own a liquor store," Sarver answered.

In the defense's opening statements, Janske told jurors that the defense disagreed with the prosecution's portrayal of Duck's and Natzke's relationship and said the case comes down to a third person's DNA that was found on Natzke's bra.

"That to me is a major, major factor," Janske said. "We believe it's the person who actually killed Dawna.

On Monday, former Hot Springs Police Chief David Flory -- who the defense claims had a romantic relationship with Natzke -- was excluded by the state Crime Laboratory as a contributor to the DNA found on Natzke.

The trial will continue at 8:30 a.m. today in the Garland County Courthouse. The state has 43 more witnesses on its witness list before the trial is handed over to the defense.

State Desk on 03/29/2017

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