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A Baxter County jury found Ryan James Lindsey guilty of capital murder Friday in the December 2020 killing of Cody Stradford, whose body was found inside his burned car on a rural road south of Mountain Home, and sentenced him to life in prison without parole.
Lindsey, 33, of Mountain Home, was also convicted of kidnapping, second-degree battery and arson after a five-day trial in the criminal division of Baxter County Circuit Court. The jury added 15 years to the life sentence and $12,500 in fines. Circuit Judge Andrew Bailey presided.
The verdict came nearly six years after Stradford, 35, was killed. Capital murder in Arkansas carries only two possible sentences, death or life without the possibility of parole.
Prosecutors had sought the death penalty against Lindsey for most of the case’s history but withdrew it during the trial last week, according to court records. That left life without parole as the only sentence available on the capital murder count.
Lindsey will serve his sentence in the custody of the Arkansas Division of Correction, according to Arkansas State Police.
The case began the morning of Dec. 16, 2020, when a caller told 911 dispatchers they had found a burned car with what looked like a body inside just off Old Arkana Road. Deputies found the vehicle with human remains inside. It appeared to have been there for several days, according to the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office.
Stradford’s parents had filed a missing person report earlier that month after not hearing from him for several days. The Arkansas State Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed his identity on Dec. 22.
Investigators from the sheriff’s office, the Mountain Home Police Department and the Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division served search warrants on the car, at a home in Mountain Home and at a second home east of the city. State police said they determined Stradford was assaulted at a Mountain Home residence before he was taken to the spot where his car was burned.
The night the body was found, deputies located Skylar Whitney Brazil, who ran on foot. A K-9 team from the Arkansas Department of Correction found him hiding in the weeds, and he was booked into the Baxter County jail.
The next day, Texas Department of Public Safety officers working with Baxter County authorities arrested Lindsey and Allison June Beckham Cunningham near Brownsville, Texas, about 1,000 miles from Mountain Home. Both were returned to Baxter County. Bond for each was set at $1 million.
A fourth suspect, Ashley Nicole Hendricks, was arrested Dec. 17 at a home in Siloam Springs by the Benton County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI, and was extradited to Baxter County.
All four were originally charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping. By the time Lindsey’s case reached a jury, he faced capital murder, kidnapping, second-degree battery and arson.
Brazil, Cunningham and Hendricks are each charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and second-degree battery. Brazil also faces a charge of possession of a firearm by certain persons. Cunningham faces an additional firearm charge and a charge of arson.
Their jury trials are scheduled to begin Oct. 19 in Baxter County Circuit Court, according to court records. Each is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
The 14th Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney’s Office handled the case.
