BENTONVILLE (KFSM) — A Bentonville man pleaded guilty to capital murder and aggravated robbery Monday (Dec. 7) after he killed his grandmother in July 2014.
Michael Eugene Conklin, 27, was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences, according to Benton County Prosecutor Nathan Smith.
Police found Nelma Darline Conklin, 76, stabbed to death in her Bentonville home on Elm Manor Avenue in July 2014 after she hadn’t shown up to work for a week. Officers found her body in the garage under trash bags and pieces of cardboard.
Investigators identified Michael Conklin as a suspect after he and his grandmother’s car couldn’t be located. Police said he had been living with his grandmother at the time of her death.
Michael Conklin was captured several days later in Saline County.
The prosecutor was seeking the death penalty had the case gone to trial.
Smith said the victim’s family requested the guilty plea for a life sentence instead of seeking the death penalty at trial so that they could be spared the ordeal of Michael Conklin going before a jury.
