Robert Dean Penny
A man charged in the shooting death of his landlord entered a guilty plea to a second degree murder charge and was sentenced to 25 years in prison during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday.
Sixty-three-year-old Robert Dean Penny was initially charged with first-degree murder in early December 2017. It was alleged Penny killed 71-year-old Chester Hornowski. Penny’s sentence on the murder charge will run concurrent with time he is spending in prison on earlier charges. He appeared in court Thursday in the white uniform of the state prison system.
Mistrial on murder charge
A mistrial was declared on the murder charge in September 2019 after a Baxter County Circuit Court jury was unable to reach a verdict as to Penny’s guilt or innocence after deliberating for about six hours.
The Baxter County Circuit Court jury panel will need to report for jury duty at 9 a.m. Monday.
According to the Baxter County and Circuit Clerk’s Office, the reporting location has been moved to the Educational Building of the Baxter County Fairgrounds, located on Fairgrounds Drive in Mountain Home.
Face masks will be required and social distancing will be enforced.
WebReady
Bethani Beyer
A Mountain Home woman was given six years in prison during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Thursday.
Twenty-nine-year-old Bethani Beyer was arrested Dec. 22 last year when Mountain Home police, Baxter County sheriff’s deputies and officers from probation and parole went to her residence along East 13th Street as part of another investigation.
After arriving at the home, the lawmen first encountered 52-year-old James Seawell leaving the residence. He was an active probationer with a warrantless search waiver on file.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Seawell was found to have two plastic bags containing what he admitted was methamphetamine.
Thirty-four-year-old Matthew Edward Gauger entered a guilty plea to charges in two open criminal cases.
Petitions to revoke suspended sentences in two earlier cases were dismissed by the state.
Gauger was sentenced to five years in prison, with three suspended. He was ordered to spend two years in one of the Community Correction Center facilities in the state.
The latest charges filed against Gauger came in late February last year when he was accused of selling a quantity of methamphetamine to a person working with law enforcement.
According to the probable cause affidavit, a confidential informant (CI) told officers he had made arrangements with Gauger to purchase about 3.5 grams of methamphetamine for $110.
The sale of two Mountain Home motels has been canceled.
Earlier this month, the Baxter County Sheriff s Office announced it would hold a public auction for the Mountain Home Motel on South Main Street and Spring Valley Kitchenettes on Highway 62 East.
The property was seized in January 2021, under a Writ of Execution filed against owner Brian Keith Ferguson in Baxter County Circuit Court to satisfy a judgment.
According to a press release from the sheriff s office the sale, scheduled for May 6, was canceled at the request of the plaintiff s attorney.