BENTON COUNTY (KFSM) – A Missouri man pleaded guilty to first-degree attempted murder in a Bella Vista shooting case on Thursday (Oct. 30), officials say.
Orville Mitchell Goodwin, 62, of Pineville was sentenced to 12 years in prison with an additional 10 years suspended, according to officials.
He was arrested on July 16, 2013, in the shooting case of Annette Rapalee. She was shot in the face and left for dead in a Bella Vista creek bed on May of 2013.
Goodwin originally faced charges of attempted capital murder and aggravated robbery, but he accepted a plea agreement and pleaded guilty to first-degree attempted murder, according to officials.
He was also sentenced to pay standard fines and court costs, officials said.
Goodwin was identified as an acquaintance to the Rapalee, according to the McDonald County Sheriff’s Office. Court documents state Rapalee’s husband died in 2012, and Goodwin had been spending time with her since.
She was shot in the face and left for dead in a creek bed by Goodwin, according to court documents. A man riding his horse saw Rapalee covered in blood and on her hands and knees. He tried to help her and called police. Rapalee was taken to a Springfield, Mo., hospital where she was treated for her injuries, officials said.
Approximately one week after Rapalee was found, authorities executed a search warrant at the home of Goodwin. Deputies with the McDonald County Sheriff’s Office discovered blood on Goodwin and inside his vehicle during the search. They also found a weapon, McDonald County Sheriff’s deputy David Roark said.
“We found several different articles that had blood splatters on them inside the truck, like an envelope and newspapers,” Roark said. “There were blood splatters on the head rest and on his clothing and boots we also found samples of blood.”
The DNA and blood samples were sent to crime labs in both Missouri and Arkansas for investigation, after which, it was determined the blood in Goodwin’s truck was consistent with Rapalee’s DNA “within all scientific certainty,” according to court documents.
Rapalee was initially hesitant to cooperate with investigators after being hospitalized. She told police that her neighbors could be responsible for the shooting, court documents state.
Police said Goodwin drove Rapalee near the Bella Vista creek bed, shot her in the face and left her.
Court documents state it appeared Rapalee crawled several hundred yards west from where she was shot, eventually coming to rest where she was later found by horseback riders the next day.
