Gurdon Man Sentenced to Life Imprisonment for Kidnapping Resulting in Death

            Hot Springs, Arkansas - Kenneth Elser, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced that Kevin Bolton, age 39, of  Gurdon, Arkansas, (formerly of Spartanburg, South Carolina) was sentenced today in the United States District Court in Hot Springs to life in prison without the possibility of parole for one count of Kidnapping Resulting in Death.  United States District Judge Susan O. Hickey presided over the sentencing hearing. 

            According to court records, on March 12, 2013, the victim visited an apartment in Gurdon, Arkansas, where she encountered the defendant, Kevin Bolton, a Gurdon resident. According to statements made by witnesses, Bolton and the victim left the apartment together around midnight in her vehicle. The victim’s mother, after repeatedly and unsuccessfully trying to contact her daughter the next day, became alarmed and filed a missing person’s report with the Gurdon, Arkansas Police Department.Because Bolton was the last person known to be seen with the victim, law enforcement began searching for Bolton, the victim, and her vehicle. Law enforcement officials learned that Bolton had friends on the Cherokee Indian Reservation in North Carolina and sent the information regarding Bolton, the victim and the vehicle to the Cherokee Indian Police Department.

            On March 20, 2013, Cherokee Indian Police officers located Bolton driving the victim’s vehicle and conducted a traffic stop. After smelling a strong odor, officers opened the trunk of the car where they found the victim’s body.Bolton was arrested and taken into custody.Bolton was interviewed on several occasions by Clark County Sheriff Jason Watson and other law enforcement officers. During the interviews, Bolton admitted that he and the victim had left together from the apartment around midnight on March 12^th. He stated that they drove in the victim’s vehicle to an area in Clark County and parked.He stated that he and the victim argued, that after the victim got out of the vehicle he grabbed her around her neck and choked her until she fell to the ground.He stated that he choked her until he believed she was dead and then put her in the backseat of her car. He stated that after a period of time he stopped the car, choked the victim again, and put her in the trunk of her vehicle.Bolton stated that he then drove the vehicle to Little Rock, Arkansas and eventually to Cherokee, North Carolina where he stayed with friends until his arrest.

            This case was investigated by the Clark County Sheriff’s Office with assistance from the FBI, the Cherokee Indian Police Department, and the Jackson County, North Carolina Sheriff’s Office.  Assistant United States Attorney Kyra Jenner prosecuted the case for the United States.

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Related court documents may be found on the Public Access to Electronic Records website @ www.pacer.gov