In January 2018, Shannon Ridener, a 38-year-old woman, went on a blind date with a man named Brian Russell. This outing would tragically be her last. The two reportedly went to Russell's home to watch a movie after purchasing liquor. At some point during that evening, Ridener sustained a fatal gunshot wound to her head.
The following day, in the early morning hours of January 14, 2018, a police officer in Monticello encountered Brian Russell and took him into custody for driving while
intoxicated. The officer noted that Russell had blood on his hands and clothing. When questioned, Russell claimed the blood was from a deer he had killed. A subsequent search of his vehicle revealed a black trash bag containing a pair of women's shoes.
For over a month, Shannon Ridener was considered a missing person. Her purse was discovered near the Ouachita River. The search for her came to a grim end on February 15, 2018, when an off-duty Game and Fish officer discovered a body near Beech Creek, south of Hermitage. The location was approximately five to ten miles from where her purse had been found. Though not immediately officially identified, the body was believed to be that of the missing Crossett woman, a belief later confirmed.
The investigation into her death led authorities to Brian Russell's home, where evidence of a cleaned bloodstain on the carpet was found. Investigators determined that Ridener had been shot with Russell's gun inside his residence. Russell admitted to disposing of her body in a creek and throwing her purse off a bridge. He claimed, however, that he had fallen asleep during the movie and was awakened by a 'bang.' He alleged that he found Ridener on the floor with a gunshot wound and, in a panic, decided to get rid of her body. He maintained that he did not murder her and suggested she had taken her own life.
Despite his claims, Brian Russell was charged and later convicted by an Ashley County Circuit Court jury of first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was sentenced to a total of seventy years in the Arkansas Department of Correction. While he appealed his murder conviction, conceding to the charges of abuse of a corpse and felon in possession of a firearm, the appellate court affirmed the original verdict.
