At hearing in murder case, Arkansas detective testifies he asked informant for nude photos

FAYETTEVILLE — An Arkansas detective testified Tuesday to sharing inappropriate text messages and photographs with a confidential informant in 2014 but denied any sexual contact with her.

Miguel Cordova, a narcotics detective in the Benton County sheriff's office, spoke Tuesday afternoon in a hearing in Cody Wise's capital murder case. The hearing centered on Cordova's relationship with his informant, who is also a witness in the murder case. The woman was also in a relationship with Wise at one time, according to Wise's attorney Drew Ledbetter.

Wise is accused of killing 53-year-old Ronald Lee Kultgen Sr. of Garfield. Witnesses said they saw Kultgen getting into a car with Wise on April 15, 2015. Kultgen's body was found Aug. 29, 2015, in a rural area near Clifty in Madison County.

Wise's defense team is seeking copies of the records from Cordova's county-issued cellphone.

An internal investigation was launched by the Benton County sheriff's office in January 2015 concerning Cordova's relationship with the informant. Cordova testified he resigned as a narcotics detective from the office that same month, ending the investigation.

He was rehired as a narcotics detective on July 2 of this year.

Cordova confirmed during Tuesday's hearing he shared text messages in 2014 with the woman. Ledbetter handed Cordova a stack of documents and told Cordova the pages reflected text messages in which he asked for nude photos of the woman at least 100 times. Cordova agreed those exchanges were inappropriate.

Cordova also acknowledged sending the woman an image of a nude man and a photograph of a penis, but Cordova denied the images were of him. He said he took the images from the Internet.

Ledbetter questioned Cordova about the woman's claims the two had sexual contact with each other, but Cordova denied it.

Capt. Kenneth Paul, who heads the criminal investigation division of the sheriff's office, said he did the internal investigation concerning Cordova, but it ended when Cordova resigned.

Paul described Cordova's actions as "a defense mechanism" and testified he believes Cordova was being truthful after the initial denial. Cordova didn't commit any criminal act, Paul said.

Sheriff Shawn Holloway said he consulted with Prosecutor Nathan Smith before rehiring Cordova. He said Smith told him since Cordova had been working as a police officer in Bethel Heights since leaving the sheriff's office, there wouldn't be any problems with him testifying as a deputy. Holloway said he made the final decision to rehire Cordova.

"I based my opinion regarding this officer's ability to testify on the information provided to me at that time," Smith said Tuesday evening. "I am currently re-evaluating this position based on new information."

Wise is free on $250,000 bond.

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