FULTON COUNTY, Ark. — Rick Headley, who is currently serving a life sentence in an Arkansas prison after pleading guilty to killing his wife in 2018, has changed his plea and has been sentenced for the 1991 killing of a Huntsville woman.
Headley, 48, was charged with first-degree murder on Oct. 17, 2023, after allegedly admitting to killing 19-year-old Sabrina Underwood in January 1991, Arkansas State Police (ASP) said.
On Nov. 13, he pleaded not guilty to the charge, which came after an investigation from state police who said he confessed to an inmate, who then told investigators.
Headley's trial was originally scheduled to take place in March 2024. However, he took a plea deal and changed his plea from not guilty to guilty on Dec. 11, 2023.
Headley has been sentenced to 40 years in prison. According to court documents, prosecutors will not seek the death penalty.
Police said that in January 1991, 19-year-old Sabrina Underwood was dropped off by her mother near Bear Creek in Boone County where she planned to hitchhike to a prison in Calico Rock and visit an inmate.
Underwood was reported missing to the Madison County Sheriff's Office.
Three months later in April 1991, ASP said a hunter found items belonging to Underwood near the Gum Springs Cemetery in Fulton County, and authorities found human remains nearby. Underwood was later identified as the victim.
Headley allegedly lived in Mountain Home in 1991 and admitted to killing Underwood to a fellow Varner inmate, ASP said. In July 2022, investigators learned of the admission and during an interview with Headley, he reportedly "gave details of the crime" to investigators.
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