A local man who was convicted in a murder-for-hire case may be going to prison after all.
The Arkansas Court of Appeals on Wednesday affirmed the conviction of Thurman C. Russell of Henderson, who was found guilty of two counts of solicitation to commit capital murder by a jury following a 2006 trial in Mountain Home.
Russell was sentenced to two consecutive 30-year prison terms by 14th Judicial District Judge Gordon Webb.
The alleged intended murder victims were Garry Kelton and his girlfriend, Patricia Honeycutt. Thurman and his wife, Carolyn, owned a boat and recreational vehicle storage business and entered a lease/purchase contract with Kelton and Honeycutt in 1998. There was hostility between the two couples and a number of civil cases in which the Russells were ordered to sell the property to Kelton and Honeycutt.
Russell was arrested after a Viola man told authorities Russell was willing to pay money to have two people killed, according to court documents.
The informant, Johnny Lofton, contacted a sheriff he knew in Louisiana and told him Russell had offered him a pontoon boat and cash to kill two people, according to Lofton's testimony at the trial.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation contacted local law enforcement authorities. Investigators contacted Lofton, who agreed to carry a digital recorder and a wireless transmitter to a meeting with Russell.
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