OZARK — A jury acquitted Kevin Jones on Thursday afternoon in the 2005 death of his girlfriend, Nona Dirksmeyer of Russellville.
The jury deliberated for about 8 hours on Wednesday and Thursday before returning the verdict.
Dirksmeyer's body was found in her Russellville apartment on Dec. 15, 2005. Prosecutors told jurors that Jones, 21 of Dover killed the beauty queen in a fit of jealous rage because she was dating other men.
Defense attorneys countered the prosecution at every turn during the six-day trial in Franklin County Circuit Court, calling their own expert witnesses and using the words of prosecution witnesses to undermine the state's case.
The case was moved to Franklin County from Pope county by Circuit Judge John Patterson, who ruled pretrial publicity in the case had tainted the jury pool.
Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
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