BENTONVILLE -- An April jury trial is scheduled for a Springdale man charged in the killing of his roommate.
Zachary Harlan, 34, is charged as a habitual offender with capital murder, aggravated residential burglary and theft of property. He has pleaded innocent to the charges.
Harlan is accused of killing Steve March.
Harlan was in court Monday, and Benton County Circuit Judge Robin Green scheduled his jury trial to begin April 14.
Green wanted to know whether prosecutors will seek the death penalty.
Stuart Cearley, chief deputy prosecutor, told her that at the moment it is a death-penalty case and that he expects it to take three weeks to try the case.
Springdale police officers found March's body on May 14, 2018, at his Moulton Lane home, according to a probable-cause affidavit. He was lying on his bed with dried blood on his head and face, the affidavit said. He had an injury on the left side of his face and a cut on his neck, according to the affidavit.
Police found a broken knife -- believed to be the murder weapon -- under March's body, according to the affidavit. The knife was taken from a set on the kitchen counter, according to court documents.
An inmate housed with Harlan while he was in the Washington County jail told police that Harlan confessed to killing March, according to court documents.
The investigation found that Harlan downloaded an app called SMS Tracker and was able to track his former girlfriend's location and whom she was communicating with by accessing her text messages, according to court documents.
Police said Harlan was able to read messages between his former girlfriend and March, according to the affidavit.
Metro on 08/24/2019