In the quiet community of Pearcy, Arkansas, a horrific scene unfolded in the early morning hours of November 12, 2009. Firefighters, responding to a call about a burning mobile home, discovered a tragedy that would shock the small town. Inside the charred remains of the residence, authorities found the bodies of 52-year-old Pamela Fern Fryar Gentry, her husband Edward Gentry Jr., 56, their son Jeremy, 24, and Jeremy's 19-year-old girlfriend, Kristyn Warneke.
The investigation would soon reveal a fifth victim, Edward's 80-year-old father, Edward Gentry Sr., in another building on the same property.
The investigation quickly determined that this was not a tragic accident but a brutal crime. Autopsies revealed that all five victims had been shot to death before the fire was intentionally set to destroy evidence. Pamela Gentry had sustained at least three gunshot wounds, one of which was to her head. The crime scene showed signs of a robbery; flat-screen televisions, firearms, and two sets of rims and tires had been stolen from the Gentry's property. The ferocity of the blaze was so intense that it caused the floor of the mobile home to collapse in one area, further complicating the initial stages of the investigation.
Within days, law enforcement identified three young men as suspects: Samuel Conway, Jeremy Pickney, and Marvin Stringer. The breakthrough came when Conway's former girlfriend contacted police after seeing him with items stolen from the Gentry home. An informant, working with the police, then arranged to purchase some of the stolen goods from Conway, who reportedly bragged that they came from a 'lick,' a slang term for a robbery. The informant also noted that Conway was in possession of two handguns that were later determined to be the murder weapons.
A dramatic confrontation occurred on November 19, 2009, when police located the suspects at a motel in Hot Springs. Samuel Conway and Jeremy Pickney, both in their early twenties, were taken into custody. However, the third suspect, Marvin Stringer, was killed in a shootout with officers during the raid. A Garland County Sheriff's Deputy was also wounded in the exchange of gunfire. The subsequent legal process brought some measure of justice for the heinous crime. Jeremy Pickney accepted a plea bargain in 2011, pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit aggravated residential burglary, and was sentenced to 50 years in prison. Samuel Conway was initially convicted in June 2011 on multiple counts of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole. His conviction was later overturned due to a judicial error, but in June 2016, he pleaded guilty to five counts of first-degree murder and received a 40-year prison sentence.
