BENTONVILLE -- A Rogers man pleaded innocent Monday to a charge of first-degree murder in the death of a man at a Bentonville motel.
Walter James Bryan, 19, also is charged with aggravated robbery, intimidating a witness and tampering with physical evidence. He entered the plea at his video arraignment before Benton County Circuit Judge Brad Karren.
Bryan is accused of killing 22-year-old Tyler Scott Garska. Garska was found dead Nov. 20 in a room at the Super 8 Motel in Bentonville, according to court documents.
Surveillance video showed at least six people enter the room between 7:07 and 7:57 a.m. About 8:20 a.m., five people left the room. Garska wasn't among them, according to the affidavit.
Bryan's sister was later identified as one of the people in the room. She told police detectives her brother accidentally shot Garska while they were "roughhousing" in the motel room. She told police other people were in the room when she arrived, according to the affidavit.
Bryan told police he and Garska were wrestling and Garska later "did that Russian roulette thing and shot himself in the head," according to the affidavit.
Bryan said he took Garska's ring, necklace, cologne and a jacket, according to court document.
Another witness in the room said Bryan and Garska were wrestling on a bed, but the struggle was serious. Garska fell to the floor, and the witness saw Bryan shoot him as he was getting up, according to the affidavit.
Two other witnesses in the room said they thought Garska shot himself. One of the witnesses said after the shooting Bryan threatened to kill him and pointed a stolen AR-15 rifle at him, according to the affidavit.
An omnibus hearing is scheduled for 8 a.m. Feb. 26.
Metro on 01/15/2019