SULPHUR ROCK, Ark. (TCD) – Deputies arrested an 18-year-old man last month after he reportedly killed a 49-year-old man with a hammer and huge rocks.
According to the arrest complaint, on Wednesday, May 17, a female called the Independence County Sheriff’s Office, claiming that someone had been murdered and that the victim’s 2009 Nissan Murano had gone missing. Officials attempted but were unable to find and notify the owner of the vehicle in question.
According to the affidavit, the Sheriff’s Office learned Matthew Speakman was involved in an accident in the missing vehicle the day before.
When deputies arrived at the residence, they located a deceased male in a bathtub with the water still running. The victim, identified as Jason Anderson by KAIT-TV, had visible head trauma.
During a check of the property, detectives allegedly discovered blood on the shower wall and “bloody shoe prints on the floor of the living area coming from the bathroom area.” A hammer, hammer handle, and three large pebbles were reportedly discovered inside the bathtub.
A deputy spoke with Speakman later that day and discovered a “methamphetamine smoking device with residue” in his hands. When the deputy checked Speakman’s shoes for contraband, the affidavit stated that they revealed a “pattern of the deceased’s bloody shoe prints.”
Speakman was taken to the Sheriff’s Office for questioning, where he admitted to having a methamphetamine smoking device as well as the missing vehicle.
When asked about the bloody shoe prints, Speakman reportedly responded, “Y’all need the truth, don’t y’all?” and went on to say that the victim was a “nude trying to seduce him into sex.”
Speakman then allegedly located the hammer on a coffee table and beat Anderson “at least four times in the head and once with a large set of rocks.”
Anderson allegedly “crawled to the bathtub,” and Speakman continued to beat him.
According to the affidavit, Speakman “continued to strike him in fear that he would try to have sex with him anyways.” Speakman allegedly did not call for help because he was “afraid of jail and being in trouble,” and he left the home in Anderson’s vehicle.
Speakman is charged with first-degree murder, theft, and possession of drug paraphernalia.
On Monday, June 5, a judge issued an arrest warrant for Speakman and ordered him held on a $1 million bond.
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