Photo: Shawn Cone
The former Mountain Home resident accused of murdering a Jonesboro woman reportedly spent days responding to text messages on her phone, a move that ultimately caused suspicion among family and friends.
Authorities arrested Shawn Gregory Cone in Key West, Florida, earlier this month. KAIT is reporting Cone made his first appearance in court Thursday to face several charges, including homicide.
According to the Jonesboro Police Department, officers were called to a home on Brac Place on Sunday, Dec. 8.
Officers found 50-year-old Alissa Reynolds of Jonesboro dead in the home.
A probable cause affidavit outlined why friends and family became concerned for her well-being, after text messages and her dogs being loose in the yard sparked suspicion.
One witness told officers she was supposed to meet Reynolds for lunch around noon on Dec. 8. Instead, she received a text message from Reynolds phone, saying she had been in an accident and was at a hospital in Jonesboro.
The witnesses say they visited the home on Brac Place at one point on Dec. 8 and noticed the dogs running loose in the house and a pile of blankets on the sofa. They thought this was odd because “she kept the dogs in a kennel when she was not there and kept the house clean.”
During the welfare check, officers say they were able to “smell an odor emitting from the residence which they know to be that of decomposition.”
Once officers entered Reynolds’ home, they found her dead on the sofa, underneath the pile of blankets.
She had been dead for several days, according to the affidavit.
Officers noticed Reynolds’ body had multiple puncture wounds to the face, hands and arms.
While investigating, officers learned Cone also lived at the address.
Cone and Reynolds had been dating for the past year and a half.
Neighbors told officers they saw Cone driving Reynolds’ car two days before she was found dead.
“During the investigation, detectives were able to determine Shawn Cone had cleaned up the crime scene and disposed of the evidence,” the affidavit stated.
Investigators also believe Cone had stolen Reynolds vehicle, personal and work cellphones, credit cards and debit cards.
Officers ultimately tracked him to Key West, Florida, and contacted U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
The CBP then notified the Monroe County, Florida Sheriffs Office and American Airlines, according to the Florida sheriffs office.
The airline confirmed to the sheriffs office Cone was on the plane and provided a seat number.
When the plane landed at Key West International Airport at 11:45 a.m. Monday, Dec. 9, deputies arrested Cone.
According to a news release from the sheriffs office, deputies searched Cone and found a credit card with Reynolds name on it, along with $3,000 in cash.
Cone was later extradited to Arkansas, arriving Monday evening.
On Thursday, District Judge David Boling set Cone’s bond at $5 million cash-only.
Cone faces the following charges:
· first-degree murder
· abuse of a corpse
· theft of vehicle valued at less than $25,000 but greater than $5,000
· theft of $5,000 or less but great than $1,000
· theft of property – credit/debit cards
· non-financial identity fraud
· tampering with physical evidence
· fraudulent use of a credit card/card or account number is stolen
As part of the bond, Boling set a precision that if Cone were to make bond, he must surrender his passport and wear an ankle monitor.
Cone will be arraigned Feb. 28 in circuit court on the murder charge.
This is not Cones first run-in with the law.
In September, a judge found probable cause to charge him with theft greater than $5,000 after police say he cashed more than $17,000 worth of stolen checks.
He is accused of stealing four checks worth slightly more than $17,400 from the mailbox of a Jonesboro flooring company. He is alleged to have deposited the checks into his own account during a period beginning in May and running through August.
When he appeared in Craighead County Circuit Court in the check theft case, he listed the dead woman as the person who would ensure he attended court sessions. He also listed her address as his residence.
He appeared Dec. 6 and was ordered to reappear Monday. If the estimated time of Reynolds death is correct, she could already have been dead when Cone made his court appearance.
When the theft and murder allegation were made against Cone in Craighead County, he was on parole from the prison sentence he received in the fraudulent sale of a boat in Baxter County.
In 2012, Baxter County sheriffs deputies arrested him on suspicion of defrauding a secured creditor and theft of property after investigators said he sold his houseboat for $275,000 to a Mountain Home man. However, according to court records, Cone had not paid off the loan on the boat to release the banks secured collateral interest.
Three years later, after submitting a negotiated plea of guilty, Cone was ordered to pay $191,500 restitution, along with other court costs and fees, at a rate of $500 a month.
According to a motion filed on Nov. 20 of this year, Cone had not made a restitution payment to the bank since August.
The Jonesboro murder investigation is ongoing. Anyone with any information is urged to call Jonesboro police at 870-935-5657 or Jonesboro Crimestoppers at 870-935-STOP (7867).
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