BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) - A former police chief in northwest Arkansas has pleaded not guilty to a capital murder charge.
Forty-eight-year-old Grant Hardin of Garfield pleaded not guilty Monday in Benton County Circuit Court to the charge that he fatally shot 59-year-old James Appleton on Feb. 23 while Appleton sat in his pickup on a Benton County road.
Hardin served as police chief for the town of Gateway for about four months in early 2016.
An affidavit filed in the case says Appleton worked for the Gateway water department and was talking to his brother-in-law, Gateway Mayor Andrew Tillman, when he was shot.
A suspected motive for the shooting has not been released. Jail records show Hardin is being held without bond.
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