It took jurors almost a full day of deliberations to find a 28-year-old Searcy man guilty of the May 2020 murder of 23-year-old Maddison Clevenger in Searcy.
It took them late into the evening Friday to decide to sentence Hunter Dean Bishop life without parole. The death penalty was being sought by 17th Judicial Prosecuting Attorney Becky Reed McCoy.
Jurors began their deliberations Thursday afternoon in the week-long capital-murder trial of Bishop after the final day of testimony, which included inconsistent testimony concerning his alibi on the morning that Clevenger was killed. Clevenger, a paramedic, was found May 15, 2020, inside her residence on the bed dead from a gunshot wound to the head.
Bishop was charged with the murder a few days later. He had been arrested on a firearms charge after the gun used in the murder was found in his vehicle the day of the shooting when he was pulled over by police.
Bishop’s father, Brian, who is a city of Searcy employee, is his son’s only alibi in the case. He testified to his son’s whereabouts during the murder, which occurred around 3 a.m.
“He was asleep on the couch,” at the family’s home on Jaybird Lane, Brian said.
Brian testified earlier in the week, and previously told police, that Bishop came home the night of the 14th, had dinner with the family, slept there, then was awakened by Brian “for work.” Bishop left for work around 5 a.m. May 15, his father had said, also reporting seeing him again at a gas station just shortly after.
He told the court that when Bishop did not come home on the 15th, he was concerned. That’s when Brian communicated with police and they asked him to come in for questioning May 16.
However, when questioned on the stand Thursday by 17th Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney Becky Reed McCoy, Brian’s answers differed.
“Can you read this document?” McCoy asked Brian, handing him a copy of his original statement to police, dated May 16.
As Brian reviewed the document, McCoy asked, “Did you see him [Bishop] the morning of the 15th?”
Brian: “No, ma’am.”
McCoy: “On the 14th, you woke Hunter, right?”
McCoy then asked Brian if Bishop worked a morning shift.
“I don’t know,” Brian said. “I don’t know his shifts.”
“When was the last time you had dinner with [and saw] Hunter?” McCoy asked.
Brian: “The night before he went to work [and didn’t come home].”
McCoy: “So, on the 13th?”
Following Brian’s conflicting statements, defense lawyer Lee D. Short of North Little Rock questioned him.
“Mr. Bishop, I think we got a little confusion about the date,” Short said. “Do you love your son?”
“Would you lie for him?” Short asked.
“When did you last have dinner with Hunter?“ Short asked.
Brian: “It was the 14th.“
Short asked again, rephrasing the question louder and more clearly, “What day was it?“
Brian: “It was on the 14th.“
Short asked a third time, and Brian responded, “It was on the 15th.”
After the testimony, the courtroom was exceptionally silent. Brian was thanked and dismissed from the stand with no further questioning.
In closing arguments, the prosecution and defense teams addressed the inconsistencies.
Short said Brian was not good with dates, and Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Norene Smith said, “He said his meds were kicking in [while on the stand].”
McCoy began her closing argument by telling jurors “you could see the errors [in the defense’s case]. … Their focus has been on Andrew Skinner.” Skinner, the ex-boyfriend of Clevenger’s sister, is whom the defense accuses of the murder, but he was dismissed as a suspect by police early in the investigation.
“He may not be likable,” McCoy said of Skinner. “You may not want to take him home to Mama, but he was excluded as a suspect.”
McCoy further refuted Skinner’s involvement, stating there were no guns, ammunition or stolen women’s jewelry found in his home during a police search the day of the murder; no DNA of his was found on black gloves discovered in a trash can at Clevenger’s home; and he couldn’t have possibly had a key to her tightly-secured home since her father changed the locks days before the crime.
McCoy then reminded jurors that nothing of Clevenger’s was taken from the home except a sentimental ring and necklace from her family. “This was something personal … a souvenir to this defendant,” she said, pointing at Bishop.
Among other points made for the case against Bishop was his possession of the murder weapon – Clevenger’s new “Tiffany blue” 9mm Glock.
Still shots from security footage of the two shopping for the gun together were displayed. “She seemed excited, but not nearly as excited as him,” McCoy said, directing focus to the defendant’s smile in the security footage as he held the gun.
“This is the gun she paid for four days before she was shot in the back of the head with it,” McCoy said.
On Wednesday, the members of the jury heard testimony from Bishop’s friend, Hannah, who told them that he wanted her to get him a gun in December 2019. According to the prosecution, Hannah said he told her that he “wouldn’t kill her, but was gonna kill someone.“ He added that if he wasn’t going to get a gun from her, he was going to get a gun from somewhere.
Along with displaying the gun to the jury, Smith paced and showed the holster Bishop was found to be wearing at the time his vehicle was stopped and searched by Searcy police
According to body camera footage, when asked at that time if he had a firearm, Bishop told officers “no.” The holster was visible from his waistband and the gun was found moments later, wedged between his driver’s seat and console.
The prosecutors said Clevenger did not purchase the holster or the gun oil found in his backseat. Also found was a magazine with 10 rounds and a magazine in the Glock with eight rounds and one in the chamber, the prosecutors said.
“He planned it,“ Smith said. “He had to get a key, snuck in the house. It was premeditated, deliberate and violent – all those things he talked to Hannah about.“
Short began his closing argument by asking the jury “Who decides this case? The police? The prosecutors? You said you were comfortable with [being on this] jury. …
“The state has the burden of proof in this case … let’s talk about whether they proved it to you.“
Short reminded the jury of shadows of doubt he said he had cast throughout the trial, challenging even the state’s ballistic results.
“They’ve got two pieces of evidence – the gun and holster,” he said. “Only one line matches up,” he added, referring to the grooves made on the test fire compared to a fragment recovered from Clevenger’s neck during autopsy that came from the single bullet which exited her cheek.
Later, prosecutors again displayed a magnified photo of the test fire, next to the recovered shell, to refute his claim. The shell and test fire shot had many, perfectly corresponding grooves, while the test fire and fragment side-by-side had fewer.
Short added that the Arkansas Crime Lab reviewer “possessed the items for just one hour,” and there was no testimony on “exactly how these evaluations are made.“
He reminded the jury that his client was found to have no gunshot residue nor blood splatter on his skin or clothing, which was processed by the crime lab. In theory, it could have been washed off, but he pointed the finger again at Skinner, whom police said they observed to have a “pile of wet clothing” by his front door during the search of his home.
But the “biggest thing in this case,” according to Short, is “Hunter’s phone,” which was found to have been at his residence, plugged in and unaccessed during the time of the murder, between the hours of around 12:30-to-4:39 a.m., according to the earlier testimony of expert mobile and digital forensics investigator Brandon Purchase with the Arkansas Public Defender’s Office.
In the final phase of the trial, Judge Mark Pete gave the jury instructions prior to their deliberations, including the directive to “not consider punishment” in their determination of a verdict.
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