A man charged in the murder of Vernice "Duwayne" Ledbetter, 29, of Johnson County has been found fit to stand trial, according to a circuit court filing.
Zachary Aaron Geels didn't have a mental disease or defect at the time of the homicide or when he was examined Dec. 4, according to an evaluation from the Arkansas State Hospital.
Geels understands the criminal proceedings against him and has the capacity to assist his attorney in the case, according to the document, which was signed by Melissa Dannacher, an assistant clinical professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
Geels suffers from methamphetamine use disorder, according to his mental evaluation. He is in early remission in a controlled environment, wrote Dannacher. She noted that he is currently incarcerated in the Grimes unit of the Arkansas Department of Correction.
Most of the filings in the Johnson County Circuit Court case indicate Geels is 30 years old, but the mental evaluation, which was filed Friday, listed him as being 26.
Geels told Dannacher he didn't witness or take part in the homicide.
Geels and three other men have been charged with first-degree murder in connection with Ledbetter's death. The other three are Isaac Taylor Vaughn, 21, Brian Anthony White, 22, and Phillip Andrew Raible, 30.
Vaughn and White have pleaded guilty, said Bruce Wilson, the deputy prosecuting attorney in the case.
Geels and Raible are scheduled to stand trial June 24.
Ledbetter was reported missing on New Year's Day 2018. His burned body was found Jan. 22 in a remote area north of Hagarville.
"It appeared the body had at least two gunshot wounds," according to an affidavit from an Arkansas State Police investigator.
In a telephone conversation Dec. 31, 2017, Ledbetter told his wife he was with White in a pickup "going up on the mountain to get more firewood," according to the affidavit for Geels' arrest. But something changed at a bonfire shortly afterward.
Vaughn told police that Geels "put Ledbetter on the ground," according to the affidavit.
"They took his phone and started going through it and found 'cop stuff,'" according to the court document.
Vaughn told police Raible and Geels tied Ledbetter's hands together with wire. They forced Ledbetter into the pickup and took him to another location, according to the affidavit.
Vaughn said Ledbetter was "pistol whipped" and that White walked up to him and shot Ledbetter five times, according to the affidavit.
White told police Vaughn shot Ledbetter, according to the affidavit.
Wilson said all four men were liable accomplices in the homicide even if only one of them pulled the trigger.
State Desk on 01/23/2019