By CRYSTAL HOLLIS
T-H Staff Writer
A man attacked in the restroom of an I-40 rest area near Palestine in 1997 has died, and the man's widow and the local prosecutor will now pursue a murder indictment against the perpetrators.
William McDonald of Marion, Ill., was attacked by two brothers, Nelson Hart and Robert Hart, of Palestine. According to court records, the two pled guilty of first degree battery in the attack, which resulted in part of McDonald's brain being removed.
Nelson Hart, 47, was sentenced to eight years and given five years suspended and granted credit for time served upon completion of a sentence from the Arkansas Department of Corrections for crimes of residential burglary and theft of property in an unrelated incident.
Robert Hart, 35, was handed a 10 year suspended sentence for his part in the incident, upon completion of a sentence from the ADC for a charge of burglary, another unrelated incident to the Williams case.
According to Glenda McDonald, widow of the deceased, Nelson Hart has already been released on parole. Robert Wayne Hart will be paroled soon, she said. McDonald said the Parole Service told her Tuesday that parole could not be denied to Robert Hart.
A tearful McDonald said yesterday, "I didn't know any of this was going on until I went to the parole hearings recently. I didn't know they were serving time for residential burglary and theft," she said.
McDonald stated further, "I was not here when they were sentenced. I was with my husband and I didn't have the time to come down here and I wasn't notified," said McDonald.
According to the county prosecutor, Fletcher Long, murder indictments are possible.
Long said yesterday, "It will be possible to re-try the two for murder but it will be a hard step -- trying to have a doctor declare the cause of death being a result of the trauma from the attack," he said.
Long said he tried to contact the coroner who pronounced McDonald dead in Marion in March but has had no luck in locating him.
"They told me up there that he was not there," said Long.
Long said McDonald's family physician, Dr. Jack Keller, who did not pronounce McDonald's death, did tell him, 'He would not have died if he had not had the trauma, but I cannot say he died from the trauma.'
Long said he will continue to pursue the coroner in the case and Glenda McDonald has said, "I didn't have time to pursue this before (the status of the Hart brothers convictions and sentences) but now I do."
The first planning session for Caldwell's "Cotton Pickin' Festival" was held Thursday, and more ideas are being sought for the event, to be held Sept., 28 and 29 at the city park.
The main event for the inaugural festival will be the dedication of the park, which was completed only recently. That will take place, probably, on the morning of Saturday, Sept. 29, according to Mayor Gary Hughes.
Jenny Lindsey has been named chairperson for the festival. Plans to be firmed up include food and live entertainment for both days. A stew day or chili day was suggested for Friday.
Other possible attractions might include a Little Mr. and Miss Cotton competition, in which the competitors would have to wear outfits of 100 percent cotton. A silent auction, with goods donated by local merchants, is another possibility. Also discussed was a pea-shelling contest and a cotton picking contest.
For the kids, there will be games, face painting and balloon animals.
An effort will be made to locate and contact people who grew up or who spent a part of their lives in Caldwell and moved away, and a special invitation will be issued to them to attend.
Anyone who would like to take part in the planning or participate in the festival is asked to call Lindsey at 633-1513.
Another interstate accident claimed the life of a 24-year old truck driver late yesterday afternoon.
According to a report from Arkansas State Police Troop D, Michael Bassett, 24, of Texas was killed yesterday when he drove his 1999 Freightliner into the rear of a 1998 Freightliner driven by Richard Smith, 52, of Oklahoma, which forced Smith's truck into the rear of another Freightliner which was driven by Eugene Chavira, 33, of Texas. All three vehicles were headed east on I-40.
According to the report, Bassett's truck burst into flames upon impact which ignited the trailer of the Smith truck. Both trucks received extensive damages with Bassetts trailer and cab both being damaged and Smith's trailer receiving damages.
A passenger in the Smith truck, Catherine Montgomery, of Oklahoma, was also injured, and was treated and released according to officials with Baptist Memorial Hospital in Forrest City. Yesterday's death is the sixth death on Interstate-40 since April.
St. Francis County Clerk Bette Green announced this morning that her office in the courthouse will be open this Saturday, Aug. 4, 9 a.m. until noon.
The office will also be open Monday, Aug. 6, until 6 p.m.
The purpose will be to assist people with concerns over child support checks which have been delayed.
A representative from the Regional Child Support Office, which covers St. Francis, Cross, Lee Monroe, Phillips and Crittenden counties, will also be a theclerk's office to assist in this effort.
Custodial parents are urged to come into he office to update addresses and allow the personnel to help them with problems regarding the delay.
Federal law become effective on July 1 which removed wage withholding from being processed by the circuit clerks' offices in the state. Now they are being forwarded to a clearinghouse in Little Rock.
Green said the Saturday hours and the late hours on Monday are simply to help custodial parents who have to work during normal courthouse hours. She said for better service, she would like people to come in person rather than call, if that is possible.
Green said if there is any information that her office has failed to pass on to the state clearinghouse, she wants to find out about it. She said she believes she has been as cooperative as she can be.
Currently, according to one report, ther are almost 8,000 checks being held up, totalling about $862,000, on which information is missing.
Gov. Mike Huckabee, angered over the delays, was recently quoted as calling the delays "one massive screw-up."
The Forrest City Area Humane Society, has recently joined Petfinder.com, the oldest and largest virtual animal shelter on the internet, according to a press release from Kim Saunders, director of Shelter Outreach at Petfinder.com.
Nationwide, the website boast over 2,500 members and features descriptions and photographs of over 45,000 pets waiting to be adopted. Members keep their list of pets updated regularly. The pets at Forrest City Area Humane Society can be viewed at www.petfinder.com/shelters/AR35.html.
To search for a specific kind and breed of animal, potential adopters can log on to www.petfinder.com and enter their search criteria.
A list will come back ranked in proximity to the visitor's zip code.
Contact is then made directly with the shelter or rescue group where the animal is housed.
The service is free to both potential adopters and to shelters and rescue groups. Many shelters report that over 50 percent of their adoptions now come through Petfinder.com.
"We estimate that we facilitated hundreds of thousands of adoptions last year," said Saunders.
"But there's much more to be done. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), a Petfinder.com partner, reports that from eight to 12 million animals are relinquished to shelters each year. The numbers are staggering," Saunders said.
Petfinder.com, the ASPCA and the Ralston Purina Company, a sponsor of the website, are dedicated to making a difference for these homeless pets with the web site.
Petfinder.com has been recognized by Forbes Magazine as one of the best 300 sites on the web, and Family PC named it as one of the top 100 family sites.
Other groups wishing to join may do so on the web site or by contacting Saunders at 908-810-1976.