A man is accused of killing his wife and setting fire to their Little Rock home as their adopted son was sleeping inside Monday, police said.
Doyle Levi Ashcraft, 32, was taken into custody shortly before 5 p.m. Monday on charges of first-degree murder and criminal attempt to commit first-degree murder, records show. He has pleaded not guilty.
The body of 35-year-old Marjorie Ashcraft of Little Rock was found around 6:45 a.m. Monday as firefighters were called to a residence on Redleaf Circle, Police Department spokesman Steve Moore said. Officers responded about 10 minutes later.
A 14-year-old boy at the scene told authorities that he awoke to smoke in the house, at which point he unsuccessfully tried to alert his parents.
The teen was able to break a window, leave the residence and run to a neighbor’s house for help, the affidavit filed in Little Rock District Court states.
A detective noted that the neighbor later kicked in the Ashcrafts’ front door in an attempt to put out the blaze, but was stopped when fire and smoke made it inaccessible.
Police said the 14-year-old’s mother, Marjorie Ashcraft, was located inside a back bedroom “with injuries that were not consistent with a fire.” She was removed from the home and pronounced dead at the scene, according to authorities.
The affidavit stated that she had “several apparent stabbing injuries.” Her body has reportedly been sent to the state Crime Laboratory for an autopsy.
Doyle Ashcraft, who arrived on scene as authorities responded, told officers that he had returned from a 5:45 a.m. trip to Walmart to run an errand for his wife, "who had an upset stomach," court documents show.
Such an account was deemed inconsistent with evidence found at the scene by detectives. An empty bottle of lighter fluid, a leather sheath for a knife and two non-functioning cameras were located inside the home.
An arrest report noted that Doyle Ashcraft reportedly set fire to the home "after disabling smoke detectors, while his son slept."
Detectives found several smoke detectors that had been “purposely removed from their mounts,” according to the affidavit.
The teen, who was treated for smoke inhalation and later released, said that he had seen his father testing and checking smoke detectors the day before and “knew they were on the wall and functioning.”
Marjorie Ashcraft's killing marked the 10th homicide of the year in Arkansas’ capital city.
Doyle Ashcraft remained in the Pulaski County jail on Tuesday afternoon in lieu of $1 million bond.
Read Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
