JANUARY 9, 2019
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THE POLK COUNTY 1168 Hwy 71 S • Mena, AR 71953 • 479-243-9600
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Brian Travis guilty plea
Andy Brown, Dwight Douglas, Ed Gibson, Mary Alice Head, James Earl Turner, Judge Danny Thrailkill, Mayor Seth Smith, Police Chief Tommy Stueart, Fire Chief Steve Egger, Linda Rexroad, and Becky Horton.
Smith and City Officials sworn in Wednesday, January 2, 2019 Mena begins new year with a new view...
On the morning of Wednesday, January 2nd at the Polk County Courthouse upwards of 100 people gathered for the ceremony to come. Many of those in attendance were there to be sworn in by Judge Danny Thrailkill. Soon after Judge Thrailkill took his seat in front of the packed courtroom and before ceremonies began, he made a short statement regarding the people who took the oath to serve and his pride in them for doing so. After signatures were
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made to official documents the newly sworn in officials made themselves available to those there to watch this small slice in the annals of Polk County history being made. The ceremony was well attended by family members and friends of officials as well as the public. Congratulations, along with hugs and handshakes were exchanged by many in the room. Mayor Smith had appointed Tommy Stueart as the new Mena Police
Chief and the two were officially sworn in at 12:00am on January 1st. A veteran of the United State Air Force and a retired Arkansas State Trooper. Chief Stueart has most recently served as Polk County’s Office of Emergency Management Director. Kris Lyle will be the interim Office of Emergency Management. Mayor Smith also signed first proclamation while in office. Story can be read on page 5.
Yesterday in the Polk County Circuit Court, Brian Travis, age 39, plead guilty to four counts of Capital Murder. Travis admitted his guilt in the April 2017 deaths of Bethany Wester, age 43, Acelynn Wester, age 2, Reilly Scarbrough, age 9, and Steven Payne, age 66. Travis was sentenced to four life sentences without the possibility of parole. Sheriff Sawyer, in his social media post said “He will spend the rest of his life in prison and after today I will never mention his name again. Though this case was initially pursued as a death penalty case, ultimately Prosecutor Andy Riner allowed Travis to plead guilty to 4 Life w/o sentences. There are many reasons why Mr. Riner made this decision, which by the way I support 100%, but ultimately this is the sentence that the family of the victims requested.” Travis was transported to the ADC Varner Supermax after sentencing.
Pretrial hearing set A Pretrial Hearing has been scheduled for January 14th at the Polk County Courthouse for Michelle Golkhajeh, 33, of Mena. Golkhajeh has been charged with murder in the 1st degree of a person
- See Pretrial, continued Page 11
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