Cynthia Arnold, a white female, was tragically murdered on September 25, 2018, in Linden, Texas. She was one of the victims in a grisly double murder case that also claimed the life of Donnie Combs. The case remained unsolved for nearly a year until an eyewitness came forward in July 2019, providing crucial information that led to the arrest and conviction of Kevin Dewayne Shepard Jr.
for the murders.
According to the eyewitness testimony, Shepard, Arnold, and Combs were at a rural property in Cass County, Texas, where they were using methamphetamine. The property had no electricity or running water, and the group had been staying there for about a week. On the day of the murders, Shepard and Combs were outside shooting guns near a fire pit, while Arnold was resting in her truck. The eyewitness recounted that Shepard suddenly said, "watch this," and shot Arnold in the head while she was in her truck. He then turned to Combs and said, "I got something for you too," before shooting him as well. Combs attempted to flee but was ultimately caught and killed by Shepard.
After the murders, Shepard disposed of the bodies by burning them in a large fire pit on the property. He threw tires and trash into the pit to fuel the fire and ensure that no evidence remained. The eyewitness testified that Shepard even asked her to join him in the pit to make sure there were no bones or teeth left, but she refused. Shepard later forced the eyewitness to follow him in his car to a county road, where he set Arnold's truck on fire. The burned truck was later found on a county road in Marion County.
The case went cold until the eyewitness came forward, leading to a renewed investigation by the Cass County Sheriff's Office, Marion County Sheriff's Office, Texas Rangers, and the FBI. Forensic testing performed at the FBI's lab in Quantico, Virginia, confirmed that four bones recovered from the fire pit were human, while several others were consistent with human bones, though damaged by fire. Shepard was eventually convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life without parole by Fifth District Judge Bill Miller.
The conviction was later upheld by the Texas appellate court, which rejected Shepard's argument that the eyewitness was an accomplice whose testimony needed corroboration. The court found that the witness was not involved in the killings and that the jury was free to believe her testimony if it found her credible. Shepard is currently serving his sentence at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's Coffield Unit in Tennessee Colony, Texas.
