Teens' cases separated in fatal kidnap of woman who was shopping in central Arkansas

2 cousins charged in slaying

Robert Lee Smith, left, and Tacori D. Mackrell
Robert Lee Smith, left, and Tacori D. Mackrell

CONWAY -- A judge on Tuesday separated the cases of two teenage cousins accused of kidnapping and killing a Wooster woman who had been on a shopping trip in nearby Conway.

The attorney for 16-year-old Robert Smith III asked that the cases be divided in light of a police affidavit indicating the older co-defendant had implicated himself, Smith and a third person in the crime that, police said, began in the parking lot of Conway Commons shopping center on July 7. Elvia Fragstein's body was found July 11 on a rural road near Pine Bluff.

Smith and his cousin, Tacori Mackrel, 19, pleaded innocent to charges of capital murder, kidnapping, aggravated robbery and theft of property in the death of Fragstein, 72. Both suspects are jailed without bail.

The affidavit hinted at gang involvement, but Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Carol Crews declined to elaborate.

"While discussing possible motives, I learned of a gang called 'MG' (murder gang) out of the Pine Bluff area," Faulkner County sheriff's investigator Andy Cook wrote in the affidavit, filed in Faulkner County Circuit Court.

The affidavit does not say whether police believe either defendant is affiliated with the gang.

Pine Bluff police officer Richard Wegner said in a brief interview that the city has "a gang issue that we are addressing," but he said the department has decided not to state the gangs' names publicly.

Mackrel's attorney, Bill James, said he has "no reason to believe" that his client is affiliated with the gang or that the gang has anything to do with this case beyond its reference in the affidavit.

Attorney Ron Davis, who represents Smith, declined to comment on specifics of the affidavit but said, "We maintain his innocence."

Davis noted that he requested Judge Troy Braswell sever the cases after learning of Mackrel's alleged statement to police on July 16.

Prosecuting Attorney Luke Ferguson said at a news conference that his office filed the charges late Friday.

Ferguson said no decision has been made on whether to seek the death penalty if Mackrel is convicted. Under Arkansas law, capital murder is punishable by life in prison without parole or death.

Smith is charged as an adult but is exempt from the death penalty because he is under 18.

According to the affidavit, Mackrel -- who earlier had denied being in Conway on the day of Fragstein's abduction -- told officers on July 16 that he and Smith had been there on July 7 "when an unknown Caucasian male with a .357 caliber revolver pointed out Mrs. Fragstein and instructed them to take her."

Mackrel first told police that she got into the driver's side of her vehicle, a 2013 Silver Honda CRV, and that he got into the back seat, the affidavit says. Mackrel indicated that Smith also got into the vehicle and soon drove off. Mackrel's account of what happened, though, changed as the interview with police proceeded, the affidavit says.

"He didn't have information on a name or where the [third] male was from," it says. "He stated that the Caucasian male just pulled up beside him and Mr. Smith and was 'strapped' with a .357. After reviewing video footage and getting witness statements, we have not found any evidence to corroborate" that this third person was involved.

Fragstein was last seen on video surveillance footage after she left TJ Maxx department store at 3:43 p.m. on a Saturday. Her body was found four days later, though authorities have not said exactly when or where she died. Her obituary lists her date of death as July 11. Authorities have said strangulation and blunt-force trauma caused her death.

In Faulkner County Circuit Court on Tuesday, Fragstein's widower, Helmut Fragstein, sat on a front bench and looked over court documents.

On the opposite side of the small courtroom sat relatives of the defendants.

The young men -- the older one tall and lanky; the younger one smaller -- share the same family. Court documents give the same Pine Bluff address for both defendants. Mackrel's parents are dead, James said.

Fragstein, a Colombian immigrant who owned two alcohol companies in the South American country, had moved to the United States after marrying Helmut Fragstein in 2000, according to her obituary. She had lived in Arkansas and Wisconsin.

The affidavit says police identified the defendants with the help of Pine Bluff police and the Jefferson County sheriff's office after video footage taken outside TJ Maxx at 3:42 p.m. showed two men walking in front of the store.

Video footage also shows the two arriving at the shopping center's nearby Target store at 2:37 p.m. in a blue PT Cruiser, the affidavit says. They also are seen "moving from parking space to parking space" in the car, eventually ending up near TJ Maxx, it adds.

"We obtained photographs of the two in the area throughout different shopping centers," the affidavit says.

Smith is to appear in court again Oct. 2. Mackrel is to return to court Oct. 17.

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State Desk on 09/05/2018

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