| Updated: 7/09/2009 9:08 am |
Published: 7/07/2009 4:24 pm |
Twenty one-year-old Mario Dawson is accused of murdering 76-year-old former Waldron mayor Troy Anderson. In an affidavit, Dawson confesses to beating Anderson and dumping his body in Pulaski County.
Police say Dawson knew Anderson and killed him during a confrontation.
"We don't have the full story on what the altercation was or what it was about. We have bits and pieces, we are in the process of determining what the altercation was over," Corporal Mikeal Bates said.
Police believe the body found Tuesday burned beyond recognition is Anderson. Less than a quarter of a mile away deputies found Anderson's truck last week.
Anderson's landlord reported his disappearance on June 27th but police say he was killed days before.
"We believe he was murdered on the 23rd when this altercation took place. We believe the body was taken to the Little Rock area or Pulaski County that same day, burnt and left there," Bates said.
After Anderson disappeared police say surveillance video showed Dawson and his wife using Anderson’s credit card at a Fort Smith store. Both were arrested later in West Memphis. The affidavit shows while police there questioned Dawson he confessed to killing Anderson.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Police have arrested a man on suspicion of murder in the disappearance of Waldron's former mayor after authorities discovered a burned body in rural Pulaski County.
Fort Smith police say Mario Dawson will be booked without bond in the Sebastian County jail on suspicion of first-degree murder in the death of 75-year-old Troy Anderson.
Anderson was reported missing last month and his truck was found in Pulaski County on June 29. Investigators on Tuesday found a burned body about 600 yards from where Anderson's truck had been found. Fort Smith police say the body was "burned beyond recognition" and that the remains were sent to the state Crime Laboratory for identification and autopsy.
Dawson and his wife, Jasmine Dawson, were arrested last week on suspicion of using Anderson's bank cards.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Press Release from Fort Smith Police:
On Saturday, June 27th, 2009 75-year-old Troy Anderson was reported missing from his residence at 1724 South “H.” On Monday, June 29th, 2009 Mr. Anderson’s vehicle, a tan 2003 Toyota Tundra, was located in a rural area of Pulaski County. The vehicle was towed to a storage facility in Little Rock and processed by crime scene detectives with the Fort Smith Police Department.
During the course of this investigation, two subjects were captured on surveillance video using a credit card belonging to Mr. Anderson. On Thursday, July 2nd, 2009 these subjects were identified as Mario Dawson and Jasmine Carter/Dawson. Later that day, both subjects were arrested in West Memphis, AR on charges of Fraudulent Use of a Credit Card.
Today, investigators with the Fort Smith Police Department, with assistance from the Pulaski County Sherriff’s Office, located a burned body in a rural area of Pulaski County, approximately 500 – 600 yards from where Mr. Anderson’s vehicle was located earlier. The body was burned beyond recognition and is being sent to the State Crime Lab for an autopsy and identification.
Fort Smith Police have arrested Mario Dawson on charges of Murder in the First Degree. He will be booked into the Sebastian County Jail with no bond.
