2 men accused of killing and leaving man in Missouri woods for allegedly sexually abusing a child
12/09/2021 1:40 pm PST
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ark. (TCD) -- Two men — one from Missouri and one from Arkansas — allegedly kidnapped and killed a 39-year-old man as retaliation for reportedly sexually abusing a 6-year-old child.
A girl in Seligman, Missouri, reportedly told police she attended a birthday party on Oct. 27 where she told Reginald Baker and Daniel Blanks that she had been sexually abused by Richard Phillips when she was 6 years old.
According to the affidavit obtained by the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, Baker became enraged from the girl’s story of abuse. He reportedly grabbed a knife from the kitchen, ready to kill Phillips at the party, but the girl was able to calm him down.
According to KOLR-TV, Phillips was reported missing from Springdale, Arkansas, on Nov. 23. That same day, Springdale Police responded to a report of two people fighting at around 8:15 p.m., the Arkansas Democrat Gazette reports. A man reportedly told police that Phillips and two men began to argue and then fight. Security footage obtained by authorities showed two men dragging Phillips from his third-floor apartment and placing him in a GMC pickup truck, KOLR reports.
According to KOLR, the girl from the birthday party had her phone searched by detectives, who found messages between her and Baker asking about Phillips' disappearance. Baker reportedly told the girl he had nothing to do with it.
KOLR reports that police obtained a search warrant on Baker’s phone and found a message to another person asking to meet him at an address in Tulsa, Oklahoma. On Nov. 26, police located the GMC pickup truck matching the security footage in Tulsa, KOLR reports. Blanks was reportedly registered as the owner of the truck, and another truck parked in the driveway was registered to Baker.
According to KOLR, the two men were found sitting inside Baker’s truck. Detectives reportedly found a shotgun inside Baker’s truck and blood inside Blanks's.
The next day, on Nov. 27, KOLR reports that a group of hunters found Phillips' body in a wooded area in Missouri with signs of being beaten, mutilated, and shot multiple times.
Baker and Blanks were initially arrested in Tulsa and then transported and booked into the Washington County Detention Center on Dec. 1. They are being held without bond and are scheduled to appear for their arraignment on Wednesday, Dec. 15. They face charges of capital murder, kidnapping, and residential burglary.
MORE:
