In the quiet, early morning hours of May 2, 2016, in Atkins, Arkansas, 49-year-old Bruce Wayne Hurley, a Caucasian male, was fatally wounded by a single gunshot to his left side. The Pope County Sheriff's Office launched a homicide investigation into his death, which occurred around 1 a.m. in the 2200 block of Edwards Road. The initial investigation sought answers from the public as to who was responsible for the shooting.
As investigators delved deeper, the case revealed a sinister plot
orchestrated by a white supremacist gang known as the New Aryan Empire. It was discovered that Hurley had been acting as a confidential informant for law enforcement, providing information about the drug trafficking activities of an NAE associate named Marcus Millsap. In retaliation for his cooperation with the authorities, Millsap, while out on bond for a methamphetamine conviction, solicited fellow NAE members to murder Hurley.
The president of the New Aryan Empire, Wesley Gullett, became a key figure in the investigation. He was accused of attempting to kill Hurley in an earlier, unsuccessful attack. In January 2016, other members of the NAE also made a failed attempt on Hurley's life. Despite these previous failures, the plot against Hurley continued, culminating in his death in May of that year. While the investigation led to the arrests and convictions of several high-ranking NAE members for their roles in the conspiracy and attempts on Hurley's life, the indictment did not specify who authorities believed fired the fatal shot.
Ultimately, Marcus Millsap was convicted of attempted murder in aid of racketeering for his role in orchestrating the violence against Hurley. Wesley Gullett pleaded guilty to several charges, including solicitation to commit murder and attempted murder for his part in the plot. However, court documents would later state that Bruce Wayne Hurley was murdered by an 'unknown perpetrator,' leaving the identity of his actual killer a lingering question in a case that exposed the violent retribution of a criminal enterprise.
