A Texarkana woman claims she was a target of a local pawn shop owner arrested Friday in an attempted murder for hire, according to a protective order petition filed Monday.
However, a petition for a protective order filed in Miller County Circuit Court alleges Duffer physically assaulted the woman while working at the pawn shop and at her home on numerous occasions. The woman who filed the petition alleges she and Duffer were in a "dating relationship" from Oct. 18, 2009, to Dec. 8, 2015.
"Throughout the relationship, (Duffer) has threatened petitioner's life by choking her, pulling a gun in her home, putting her guest in her home at gunpoint for being with her," the protective order petition states.
The petition alleges Duffer assaulted the woman in front of her child and asks that Duffer be prohibited from coming within a certain distance of her or her family and that he be forbidden to communicate with her.
The petition alleges that Duffer locked the woman in a store next to the pawn shop April 2, 2014, with no phone for 17 hours. The woman claims in the petition that when he returned, Duffer assaulted her by putting her in a head lock and kicking her, requiring hospital treatment for fluid around her spleen.
The woman claims Duffer assaulted her May 6 at the pawn shop. The petition alleges Duffer kicked the woman's legs out from under her, kicked her twice in the stomach and strangled her to the point of unconsciousness. The woman alleges she suffered a fractured rib and bruising. The woman alleges she was fired and banned from the pawn shop when she reported the alleged attack to police.
The protective order petition further alleges Duffer not only wanted to hire someone to kill the woman who filed it, but a man as well. The man's connection to Duffer or to the woman is not identified in the petition, though his Facebook page notes that they are in a relationship.
A summons was issued instructing Duffer to file an answer to the woman's petition within 30 days. Until then, a temporary order of protection has been issued by Circuit Judge Brent Haltom. No hearings are currently scheduled.
Prosecuting Attorney Stephanie Black said in an interview Saturday that her office will not make a final decision on what charge or charges Duffer will face until the investigation by Texarkana, Ark., police is complete and a case file has been turned over to her office.