In the early morning hours of December 21, 1975, a young Springdale police officer named John Tillman Hussey, age 22, was reported missing. His patrol car was discovered with the door ajar and its lights still flashing, a silent testament to a sudden and violent encounter. A short time later, the grim discovery of his body was made in a wooded area west of Fayetteville. The young officer had been handcuffed to a tree and fatally shot with his own service revolver. He had only been with the Springdale Police Department for a brief six weeks before his life was tragically cut short.
The investigation that followed was extensive, culminating in the identification of two suspects. The first, a 39-year-old man, was placed on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List. His run from the law came to an end on May 9, 1977, when he was apprehended by FBI agents in Denver, Colorado. He was subsequently convicted of Patrolman Hussey's murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. This individual would later escape from prison in 1988, but was recaptured after being featured on the television show 'America's Most Wanted.' He ultimately died in prison in 1995.
The second suspect, a 30-year-old man, was located and arrested in Conrad, Montana, on June 8, 1978, by a joint force of Pondera County deputies and FBI agents. He too was returned to Arkansas, where he stood trial and was convicted of murder. He received a life sentence for his role in the abduction and killing of Officer Hussey. His life also ended in prison, where he passed away in 2019, nearly 44 years after the crime was committed.
