Arkansas Blog

"It is possible they could have left Arkansas," Tyler said.

It is also possible they have not. Yet, I know people who never lock the doors to their house.

wonder why they dont tell us what the getaway car looks like? wouldnt a prison have surveillance cameras to possibly take a picture of the car's license plate, just maybe? apparently the authorities dont know where they were headed, dont they usually tell us that much at least?

I always keep my doors locked. even when Im at home. and I dont live in a high-crime area, but I do live alone. that way, when I hear something go bump in the night, at least I know I had the doors locked all day and nobody could've wandered in and spent the day hiding in the two inches of space in the extra-bedroom closet.

Tina:

Grinder and Adams drove away in a maroon or burgundy colored, 4-door sedan that had been left for them.

That was in the linked AP story. Watch out for such!

-mag

Apparently Grinder didn't patrol a high crime area when he killed his victim out of the blue in '03.

"Searcy County sheriff 's deputies arrested Grinder on Sept. 25 in Marshall. He listed recent addresses in Marshall, Yellville and Fayetteville, deputies said."

story is on eLwood. My girlfriend's family knew the victim.

.

thanks, Mag. Im half blind and I tend to miss things sometimes. my heart goes out to the victim's family.

You know what, eLwood? Thank you for looking this up.

One would think there already would be mention of this on one of the Northwest Arkansas papers' Web sites, what with:

A) Jeffery Grinder being (at one point, at least) from Fayetteville and convicted of murder in Washington County;

B) Grinder being convicted of killing Pat Gardner, who had lived many years on a farm near Tontitown;

C) Grinder's brother, a former sheriff's deputy, living right ACROSS THE ROAD from Gardner at the time Gardner was killed;

and

D) All or any of the above.

I find nothing. Not even a breaking news post. Not even last night's story. Not even a rehash of the trial and conviction story with the escape as a topper.

You lose institutional memory when you lay off journalists, eLwood. Thank you again.

But I guess editors and Web editors and reporters have better things to do than look out for their readers on a sunny Saturday.

This, my friend, is why newspapers are dying.

You are so right, TONKuhTRUX, about the complacency of news staff regarding this story. Since these two thugs are roaming free, it might be useful to provide readers information about just what these two killers did to deserve life in prison without chance for parole.
Less than two minutes online revealed court documents that stated one of the guys, Calvin Adams, kidnapped Richie and Cassandra Austin from their Greene County home on the night of April 15, 1994. Adams took the couple to a rural area, killed Richie and shot Cassandra twice in the head and once in the shoulder. Cassandra survived, walked to where she found help, and then gave investigators a description that led them to arrest Calvin Adams at about 6 a.m. April 16. In light of this escape, I wonder if authorities are talking to Thomas Scott Puckett, the buddy who tried to help Adams back in 1994 by hiding the murder weapon and was subsequently convicted of hindering prosecution.
Jeffery Grinder was, until his escape, serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty in 2004 to robbing and bludgeoning to death 77-year-old Pat Gardner of rural Springdale on Sept. 2, 2003, with a dry-wall hammer ax. Grinder targeted Gardner's home, kicked in the door, took money and beat the elderly man to death.

Tonka-
>>One would think there already would be mention of this on one of the Northwest Arkansas papers'..<<

You certainly won't find mention of any friday afternoon Sat, Sun event in
The Moron News. They don't like to work over the weekend. Never have, unless it's simply
a wire story and often those are over looked.
It has to be a V-P or Presidential event to get those reporters out of the house
and even then they often just send a photographer and publish a canned news release.

Hence as The Moron News sets operational standards up here the ADG usually follows suit, like having free online content for the NWA version of ADG.

I could not find that 6 year old story (about the murderer) in The Moron News. Two stories on it popped up quickly in ADG.

I'm so glad the ADG is here.

I also just checked and 29/40 has finally picked up the story, on clicky

How did anyone involved with running the prison not think that making the guards' uniforms in the prison would be a bad idea? Also, how can an unknown car, the get away car, sit in the prison parking lot for 24 hours without raising suspicion? I've been to hotels/motels that keep better track of what vehicles are in their parking lot.

.....wrong chunklet, Adams took the Austin couple from their home in Leachville, AR - which is in Mississippi County....The trail was moved to Green County so it shows him to be convicted from that county..... He went to their house at night and asked for help with a flat on the highway in front of their house....He took them at gun point to the bank (where Richie worked) and wanted to force Richie to open the vault....Richie told him it was time release and he couldn't open it even if he wanted to....Adams got nervous and forced them to drive around while he tried to figure out what he was going to do..... He forced them to drive to a ditch dump where he shot them...He then went home, put his clothes in the washer and went to bed....Ms. Austin, who was shot three times, walked through briars and other thick stuff for over two miles to get help - she remembered him and knew he was a local (but didn't know his name)...once police made the ID they went to his house, got him and he confessed (his clothes were still in the washer with evidence on them)..... killing happened about 10pm and he was charged around 10 the next morning.....

Thanks, walkinsmall, for correcting that info (there was virtually nothing else available online about Adams's trial or the Austins, just that info from appellate records). What else do you know about the Austin case? What other crimes did Adams commit before murdering Richie Austin? And how is Cassandra Austin...I hope she has recovered as much as one can from such a horrific tragedy.

Adams told police he wanted to leave the area and his family. Needed big money to get new start out of the country. After shooting the couple he returned to their house and parked their SUV in the carport. He then set the vehicle on fire. The carport caught on fire and was burning when a neighbor saw the flames and called police/fire. Once everyone got there the Austins could not be found. A search was started and that is when an older couple from outside of town called to say a woman who was bleeding had walked to their house and wanted help (Ms. Austin was in her house coat/nightgown). Ms. Austin was able to give police a description of the man - she knew he was from around Leachville. Leachville is a small town so the police started waking folks up and looking for information. Adams was found at home in bed. His wife said he had been out the night before and that a pistol he owned was missing from their bedside. The holster was still in the night stand by his bed. The gun was later found and Puckett was charged, but he was not with Adams during the shooting. -------- Last I heard, Ms. Austin is married to a man named Sullivan. Her father-n-law is a big farmer around Blytheville. She is one of the toughest women I have ever been around. She walked over a mile through thick briars (stuff a beagle chasing a rabbit would have a hard time getting through) and across fields to get help - no shoes on. When Adams forced them out of the truck he made them get on the ground, face down. It was dark and he didnt have a flashlight . When he fired he couldn't tell where his bullets were hitting them. Ms. Austin played dead until Adams left the area and then went for help.