Gateway Mayor Andrew Tillman was on the phone with James Appleton, his brother-in-law, when Appleton was fatally shot Thursday, Feb. 23.
Appleton's body was found about 4:15 p.m. Thursday inside a white pickup on Gann Ridge Road, according to Benton County Sheriff Shawn Holloway. Appleton worked for both the Gateway Rural Water Authority and the town of Gateway.
According to the affidavit, Appleton had just filed a report with the Benton County Sheriff's Office that someone had vandalized the Gateway water tower and was talking with the mayor while driving east on Gann Ridge Road. He pulled over before descending into the valley at Old Wire Road to avoid losing cell phone service.
"A car came flying down the road and stopped," Appleton reportedly told Tillman, who said he then heard a loud noise like a slammed door, according to the affidavit.
A witness reported passing the two vehicles and the driver of the white car waved him around. The witness said that once he got a few hundred yards down the road, he heard a "loud bang," saw the white car driving up behind him and then turn north on a dirt road. The witness turned around to check on the driver, who he found slumped over the steering wheel, according to the affidavit.
Holloway said Appleton, 59, had a gunshot wound to his head. Appleton's body was sent to the state Crime Laboratory in Little Rock.
Grant Hardin, 48, was arrested Friday in connection with capital murder. Hardin, who lives at 15617 Gann Ridge Road in the northeast part of the county between Garfield and Gateway, was being held without bond at the Benton County Jail.
Holloway said the men knew each other, but a motive for the shooting was not known.
Tillman said the town has suffered a great loss.
"He did it all -- parks, streets," Tillman said.
County records show Hardin served two terms as constable for Benton County District 1 from 2009-10 and 2013-14. Hardin was hired as the police chief for Gateway on Jan. 31, 2016, and resigned in May 2016. Frank Hackler Jr. was mayor at the time and resigned Aug. 9, 2016. Tillman was appointed to replace Hackler.
Northwest Arkansas Community Correction Center in Fayetteville hired Hardin as a correctional officer on Nov. 21, 2016, said Dina Tyler, the agency's deputy director of communications and public affairs. She said the process to fire Hardin has started.
Hardin's arraignment is set for April 4 in Benton County Circuit Court.
General News on 03/01/2017