Ryan James Lindsey of Norfork, who is facing the death penalty for the murder of then 35-year-old Cody Stradford in December 2020, has picked up yet another charge stemming from violent behavior in the Baxter County Detention Center.
On April 26, Lindsey threw a rage-fueled fit in the jail and about two weeks later attacked a jailer, hitting him in the jaw with his fist.
After the incident with the jailer, the 31-year-old Lindsey is quoted as saying the punch was “only a love pat.”
LATEST CASE
On May 15, a team of jailers went to Lindsey’s cell to remove him so a trustee could do routine cleaning. The probable cause affidavit notes that Lindsey cannot “be trusted” to do the job himself “due to his violent tendencies.”
After leg and hand restraints were put on Lindsey, he was taken outside the cell until the cleaning was done.
When he was put back into his cell, the leg restraints were first removed in the hall and Lindsey stepped into his cell.
A jailer then removed the hand restraint from Lindsey’s right hand, but before the other restraint could be removed, Lindsey lashed out and punched the jailer.
Lindsey has been quoted saying during his many stays in the county jail that he has no problem attacking staff and fellow inmates.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the jailer was “stunned” by the blow and dropped his handcuff key. Lindsey is alleged to have picked the key up and held it over the toilet in his cell as if planning to drop it in.
He was ordered to give up the key and did so.
At this point, a number of jailers had their stun guns trained on Lindsey, and he decided to end the incident.
The jailer who was punched was unable to finish his shift and went to Baxter Health where he was diagnosed with major bruising and a possible concussion.
During the initial incident on April 26, Lindsey was reported to have been in the multiple-purpose room of the jail conducting an online meeting with one of his attorneys in the murder case when he blew his top, overturning the table where he was sitting, scattering papers and sending a laptop computer crashing to the floor.
Lindsey is alleged to have started yelling and pacing. He stopped at one point to throw a folding metal chair at a window causing the security glass to crack.
At the time, Lindsey was shackled and wearing hand restraints.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Lindsey is double jointed which means he can “dislocate” his thumb and move it into a position that allows him to slip his hand through the restraints.
He is reported to have removed the cuff from his left hand, took the free cuff and placed it over his right hand turning it into a “brass knuckle type weapon.”
Lindsey was reported to have continued to pace and yell until a team of jailers came into the room and brought him under control. He was returned to his cell.
CHARGES FROM BOTH INCIDENTS
His new charges stemming from the incidents in April and May are all felonies, including criminal mischief, possession or use of weapons by an incarcerated person, second-degree battery and impairing the operations if a vital public facility. Lindsey also has a number of criminal cases open.
THE MURDER CASE
Lindsey is in jail awaiting his murder trial. He is one of four people charged in Stradford’s death. The trial is set for October.
Stradford was allegedly lured to a house along Cresswell Drive in Mountain Home. According to the probable cause affidavit, shortly after Stradford entered what was described as a walk-out basement, Lindsey and 40-year-old Skylar Brazil began beating him.
His body was found in a burned-out vehicle several days after the violent and ultimately deadly encounter at the Cresswell Drive residence.
In addition to Lindsey and Brazil, two females, 44-year-old Allison Cunningham and 27-year-old Ashley Hendricks, were alleged to have been involved in the murder in a much less active way. It is reported they stood by and watched as Stradford was beaten by the two males.
Cunningham is alleged to have accompanied Lindsey to Texas where they were arrested and returned to Mountain Home.
The state is seeking the death penalty for Lindsey and Cunningham in the Stradford murder.
At one point, Lindsey had six criminal cases open in addition to the one where he is charged with capital murder.
Of the four people accused of being involved in the Stradford killing, Lindsey is the most familiar to local law enforcement. His criminal record goes back to 2010 when he was a teenager.
After serving his time on charges in an earlier criminal case, Lindsey was returned to the Baxter County Detention Center.
The two females charged in the murder are being kept in other county jails. Brazil is an inmate in the Varner Unit of the state prison system.
Lindsey’s bond is set at $1 million. He is due back in circuit court June 24.
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