Former police chief, serving murder and rape sentences, escapes from Arkansas prison
CALICO ROCK, Ark. — A former police chief in Arkansas who is serving decades-long sentences for murder and rape escaped from prison Sunday, state corrections officials said.
Grant Hardin, the former police chief of the tiny town of Gateway near the Arkansas-Missouri border, escaped from the North Central Unit in Calico Rock, where he has been held since 2017. Corrections officials did not provide any details about how he escaped.
The Division of Correction and the Division of Community Correction are following leads with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.
Hardin pleaded guilty in October 2017 to first-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of 59-year-old James Appleton. According to an affidavit filed in the case, Appleton worked for the Gateway water department and was talking to his brother-in-law, then Gateway Mayor Andrew Tillman, when he was shot in the head on Feb. 23, 2017 near Garfield. Police found Appleton’s body inside a car.
Hardin, who was Gateway’s police chief for about four months in early 2016, was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He is also serving 50 years in prison for the 1997 rape of an elementary school teacher in Rogers north of Fayetteville.
KFSM-TV, reporting on his guilty plea in 2019, wrote that police used DNA samples from the crime scene to apply for a John Doe Warrant in 2003 as the statute of limitations neared. The DNA was tested against old and new profiles, and investigators got a match when Hardin was imprisoned for killing Appleton.
‘Where’s our money?’ CDC grant funding is moving so slowly layoffs are happening
The state and local health departments that rely on CDC funding say the money is not coming in on time and no one can tell them why. Some are laying off staff.
Israel’s leaders slam a news report on a Gaza ‘killing field’ near food sites
Israel's prime minister denounced a report in Israeli newspaper Haaretz quoting Israeli soldiers saying commanders ordered them to fire at unarmed crowds near food distribution sites.
In an about-face, Germany plans to build Europe’s biggest military
A new Trump presidency and the Ukraine war have pushed Germany to change its constitution to spend more on its military. "Building up our military is our top priority," said Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
Slain Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman to be laid to rest in private funeral service
The Minnesota lawmaker was killed during a string of attacks against Democratic elected officials in the state.
Big beautiful bottleneck: Trump’s high-stakes week at home and abroad
From trade talks to the fate of his legislative agenda, what happens over the next 10 days or so, domestically and abroad, could come to define Trump's presidency.
Where the Voting Rights Act stands after the Supreme Court punts on a Louisiana case
The Supreme Court delayed ruling on a Louisiana congressional redistricting case that some legal experts say could end up further weakening protections against maps that dilute minority voters' power.
