Shawn Cone (Photo courtesy of Arkansas Department of Corrections)
The Arkansas Supreme Court has turned down the appeal of a former Mountain Home man currently serving a life without parole prison sentence for the murder of a Jonesboro woman.
Fifty-one-year-old Shawn Gregory Cone was arrested Dec. 9, 2019, after he flew from Memphis to Key West, Florida.
The body of the victim, then 50-year-old Alissa Reynolds, was found in her residence along Brac Place in Jonesboro laid out on a chaise lounge and concealed under a pile of blankets and other bedding.
The court’s opinion which rejected every point in Cone’s appeal was issued Thursday.
Cone was tried and convicted of capital murder and other charges in mid-September last year and filed a notice of appeal the next month. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on the appeal Oct. 20, and the opinion rejecting it was issued Thursday. If the appeal had been granted, Cone wanted the charges against him dismissed or the case sent back to Craighead County Circuit Court for a new trial.
LOOKING TO RELOCATE
In the possessions Cone had with him when arrested, authorities found information about countries not having extradition treaties with the United States. Cone also was alleged to have done computer searches asking what countries did not require a U.S. passport for entry.
In the appeal, Cone’s attorney argued the Craighead County Circuit Court’s decision to allow the list to be introduced violated two sections of the Arkansas Rules of Evidence.
The state supreme court disagreed.
APPEAL ALLEGES SEARCH WARRANT PROBLEMS
The appeal also claims the seizure of a blue backpack belonging to Cone when he was arrested in Florida was not proper because of defects in the initial search warrant.
The list of foreign countries with no extradition treaties with the United States was among the items found in the backpack.
The state contends the search of the backpack was perfectly legal. At the time of his arrest, Cone was still on parole from a $275,000 bogus houseboat sale case filed in Baxter County. A person put on probation or parole is required to sign a search waiver, meaning his person or property can be searched at anytime without a warrant.
Cone’s appeal claimed those who handled the case in Craighead County “misunderstood” what was required in order to rely on the search waiver.
While investigators in Craighead County were aware of the search waiver stemming from Cone’s felony conviction in Baxter County, they testified during his trial last year they got other warrants “just to make sure” they were covered.
Arkansas’ Assistant Solicitor General Hannah Templin told the justices during oral argument held on Oct. 20 “this belt and suspenders approach” to issuing new warrants and not depending solely on the search waiver that went into effect when Cone was found guilty in the Baxter County case was more than sufficient to protect the seizure against Cone’s challenges.
The state Supreme Court rejected Cone’s arguments and found the search warrants issued in the case were not flawed, and the lower court was correct in not ordering the material suppressed.
PICTURES ALLOWED
In addition, Cone’s lawyer said the Craighead County Circuit Court erred in allowing postmortem photographs of Reynolds’ body into evidence.
In the appeal, Cone’s attorney contended the photos, which were described as gruesome, were not vital to the state’s case and were brought into evidence mainly to inflame the jury against Cone.
During oral arguments, the state said only certain photos from the large number of postmortem pictures taken were selected for use during Cone’s murder trial. The pictures were used to point out the numerous wounds the victim had suffered and to show the proximity of the wounds and the damage to Reynolds’ body.
Information developed during the autopsy showed Reynolds had been stabbed 18 times and had also sustained numerous cuts caused by “slashing.”
The state Medical Examiner said it was his opinion the “clustering” of many of the wounds resulted from Reynolds being stabbed repeatedly while she could not move — either because she was being held down, was unconscious, or had already died. Four stab wounds to the victim’s neck caused injury to her left jugular vein and carotid artery — likely the major cause of her death, according to the state Medical Examiner’s Office.
The Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s decision to allow the picture to come into evidence.
SHARED HOME
According to reports from the Jonesboro Police Department, Cone and the victim had been in a dating relationship for about 18 months prior to the murder.
Both were reported to live in the Jonesboro home that was owned by the victim. There was testimony during Cone’s murder trial that he had overstayed his welcome and was in the process of being kicked out.
According to Witnesses and evidence taken from social media platforms, Reynolds had ended the relationship with Cone on Dec. 2, 2019, the same day she was killed.
In one Facebook message, Reynolds was reported to have written in reference to Cone that she was “done with him.” In another, she said, “I just want a normal life again.” Cone was shown the messages during his murder trial but said his relationship with Reynolds was not ending, and she had no intentions of forcing him to leave her home.
The victim was at work Dec. 2 and when her body was found six days later, and she was wearing the same clothing she was seen wearing in video footage from security cameras at her place of employment.
Cone admitted during his trial that he had called Reynolds’ supervisor at work on Dec. 3 and 4, the two days directly following the murder and reported she had the flu and was not able to come into work.
He was said to have also texted updates on her condition to the supervisor.
When family and friends attempted to contact Reynolds by phone in the days following Dec. 2, they reported it was Cone who answered.
DIRECT CONTACT WITH VICTIM LOST
Jonesboro police officers went to the home to conduct a welfare check on Dec. 8. They were told friends and family had had no direct contact with the victim after Nov. 29, 2019. A family member said he had tried to call Reynolds on Dec. 6 and 7, but Cone answered the victim’s phone.
During the welfare check, one of the Jonesboro Police Department officers made his way around the outside of the brick-and-frame structure. He reported detecting the “distinct odor of decomposition” coming from inside the residence.
Police forced their way into the home and reported that when the blankets and other bedding items piled on the chaise lounge were raised slightly, a decomposing body was visible underneath. Reynolds body was lying on its back. She was estimated to have been dead for a number of days. After an autopsy, it was estimated by the Medical Examiner that she was most likely killed Dec. 2, about six days before her body was discovered.
She was reported to have multiple puncture wounds on the neck, face, hands and arms.
Neighbors told police they had seen Cone driving the victim’s car, a white Range Rover, on several occasions and also reported seeing him coming and going from the house. The sightings were made after Reynolds had been killed. He was also picked up on surveillance cameras using the victim’s credit card, including at a liquor store where he purchased beer and champagne, during the six-day period when evidence showed Reynolds had already been murdered.
THE ORGANIZATION DID IT
During his murder trial Cone took the stand and said he believed a group known to him only as “The Organization” had killed Reynolds. He testified that he owed the group $200,000 in gambling debts, and “they” wanted the money paid, or he or someone he loved would be “roughed up.”
Cone said he was addicted to drugs, alcohol and gambling. He testified he spent about $2,400 a month on heroin and cocaine.
Cone said he had been to he hospital five times for treatment of injuries he received at the hands of “Organization” members.
Prosecutors pointed out they found evidence of only a single hospital visit by Cone and that was due to “alcohol poisoning.”
Cone said on the night Reynolds’ murder, he had been out doing errands and when he got home, found the back door to the residence had been kicked in, and once inside, he had found a “bloody mess.”
PRIOR LEGAL PROBLEMS FOR CONE
Cone had appeared in Craighead County Circuit Court Dec. 6 on theft charges brought against him for allegedly stealing more than $17,000 in checks from the mailbox of a flooring company.
When he made the Dec. 6 court appearance, he listed the dead woman as the person who would be responsible for ensuring he attended court sessions in the theft case. He said they both lived in the victim’s Jonesboro home. Cone had also been served with eviction papers on a commercial building for nonpayment of rent.
He was also charged with driving while intoxicated prior to the murder.
Police said evidence showed that during a period beginning with the estimated time of death on December 2 to the time Reynolds’ body was found on Dec. 8, 2019, Cone had been living in Reynolds’ home with her decomposing body hidden under the pile of bedding.
ARRESTED IN KEY WEST
Investigators were able to determine Cone had made plans to travel out of Memphis International Airport for a nonstop flight to Miami on Dec. 9, 2019. At Miami, his itinerary called for him to change planes for the 58-minute-flight to Key West.
Immediately on landing, he was arrested and taken to the Monroe County, Florida jail. He was held there until extradited to Arkansas. When arrested, Cone was alleged to have a credit card belonging to the dead woman in his possession and $3,000 in cash.
BAXTER COUNTY CHARGES
In 2011, Cone had felony charges filed against him in Baxter County for selling a large houseboat named the “Never Enuff” for $275,000.
The trouble came when it was discovered he had neglected to pay for the boat at the time he sold it. The bogus sale came to light when a local bank contacted the new owners and told them Cone had not paid off the loan to the bank and that there was an active lien against the property. The houseboat was eventually seized.
Cone was sentenced to 10 years in prison in Baxter County Circuit Court in early June 2015 on charges stemming from the fraudulent sale. He was on parole in the Baxter County case when the murder in Jonesboro took place
Cone is an inmate in the East Arkansas Regional Unit of the state prison system at Brickeys.
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