Man beaten, stabbed, shot before body dumped at Arkansas cemetery, court records show

A man whose body was found in an Arkansas cemetery in October was shot to death, beaten and stabbed after he paid for methamphetamine with a counterfeit $100 bill, according to court records cited by the Hot Springs Sentinel-Record.

After Melissa Wineland, 37, was arrested in the disposal of Cory Richardson's body, she told officers that he died at her home, the newspaper reported.

She said her boyfriend — who was not named in the Sentinel-Record story is still being sought by police — discovered Oct. 22 that Richardson, 31, had used a counterfeit bill to pay for meth, then told 42-year-old Steven Wood to find Richardson and “deal with it,” the court documents state.

Early the next day, Wineland got a call from her boyfriend telling her that Richardson had been shot at her residence and she needed to come back and “clean up the mess,” according to the Sentinel-Record.

A witness who was reportedly inside the home at the time of Richardson's death told officers he had tried to run for the back door as Wood, Wineland’s boyfriend and a third man — also not named by the Sentinel-Record — beat him, the newspaper reported.

Wineland’s boyfriend fired in Richardson's direction, according to the witness’ statement. An autopsy report showed the 31-year-old died of a gunshot wound to the buttocks and was beaten and stabbed after his death, according to the Sentinel-Record.

Four people have been arrested in the case.

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