A five-man, seven-woman jury handed down a life sentence Thursday afternoon in Miller County for a man who stabbed another to death in the victim's truck last year.
Came-ron Scott "Fishman" Halliburton, 29, was found guilty Thursday morning of first-degree murder in the Nov. 26, 2017, death of 27-year-old Jarrod Klein. The jury deliberated for about two hours Wednesday before being placed in an evening recess by Circuit Judge Carlton Jones. Thursday morning the jury spent about another hour considering the case before convicting.
Klein, 27, was found still belted in behind the wheel of his Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck in the early morning hours of Nov. 26, 2017, by a Texarkana, Ark., police officer responding to a call concerning a possible one-vehicle wreck. The pickup was in park, the keys were missing and it had come to rest against a tree. Texarkana, Ark., detectives testified that the truck traveled from the direction of Jefferson Avenue and across the parking lot of Family Dollar Store on Ninth Street before jumping a curb onto Linden Street, crossing it and hitting the tree.
The jury was shown surveillance video from the Family Dollar which showed the truck roll across the parking lot, nearly missing the building, about 1:30 a.m. Approximately 10 minutes later Halliburton stumbles into the camera's view in the parking lot. Halliburton appears unsteady on his feet as he pulls at the store's door and then walks off.
Klein had been stabbed a total of 10 times. Seven stabs wounds to Klein's neck were inflicted after he had suffered a fatal wound to his chest that caused massive internal bleeding and a rapid loss of consciousness, Medical Examiner Stephen Erickson testified Tuesday. His body was found at about 3:30 a.m. Nov. 26, 2017.
Using a receipt found in the truck, investigators were able to track down friends who had socialized with Halliburton and Klein earlier in the day. When they found Halliburton sleeping behind a dumpster at a small Texarkana, Texas, apartment complex not far from the site of the crash, Halliburton was wearing the same clothes as in the surveillance video. The knife sheath on Halliburton's belt, which usually held a filet knife, was empty. The murder weapon and Klein's truck keys were never recovered.
Experts testified that blood on the sleeve of Halliburton's jacket was Klein's. Curtis Flowers, a friend of Halliburton's, testified that Halliburton stopped by his home in the early hours of Nov. 26, 2017, and claimed that he had stabbed Klein to death. Flowers said Halliburton told him that he and Klein were in a hotel room and that he had stabbed Klein after Klein started punching him in his sleep.
Detective Wayne Easley testified that Halliburton repeatedly changed his story when confronted with evidence in the case. Others on whom Halliburton attempted to cast blame had alibis, which were confirmed by police through video surveillance, Easley testified.
While Halliburton maintained innocence through the first phase of his trial, Halliburton testified during the punishment phase that Klein's death from 10 stab wounds was accidental. Halliburton did not take the stand during the guilt/innocence phase of trial.
"What I find particularly appalling by this murderer's behavior is the fact that he went to great lengths to frame two other people for this murder. As a prosecutor, it is my greatest fear that an innocent person may be incarcerated for a crime they did not commit and that is why we, as law enforcement, go to such great lengths investigating crimes and insuring that we are prosecuting the right person,"Prosecuting Attorney Stephanie Potter Barrett said. "I want to thank the Texarkana, Arkansas Police Department and Detective Jason Haak, Detective Easley and Detective Holly Smith as well as the many other detectives and officers that worked on this case and chased down every alibi and false story that this Defendant told. I appreciate that he confessed during punishment, but it came after he put two witnesses on the stand to blame another person for his crime so I believe that the jury took that into consideration in assessing his plea for mercy and gave him exactly what he deserved."
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Kristian Robertson said she believes the jury removed a danger from the streets of their community.
"Cameron Halliburton has done nothing but manipulate and use others throughout his life but he was unable to fool the jury," Robertson said. "He violently murdered his best friend. Imagine what he is capable of doing to a stranger."