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| Defendant Pat Tinsley, showing emotion during his trial this week in circuit court. |
Tinsley, 50, is accused of conspiring along with his wife to burn their home on Aug. 1, 2010 in order to collect the insurance money. Tinsley's wife, 47-year-old Glenda Tinsley, died in that fire at their two-story Wilson Farm Road home. He is charged with second-degree arson by complicity, a Class B felony, and reckless homicide, a Class D felony.
The jury has heard testimony from 14 prosecutorial witnesses and been exposed to a variety of evidence, including the playing of an audio recording that lasted almost an hour and a video recording that lasted about three-and-a-half hours. Both were interviews of Pat Tinsley, which were conducted and recorded by state police detectives. The defendant provided a series of statements near the end of the videotape taken on Oct. 7, 2010 that have become a central part of the state's evidence. Those statements regarding a conversation he had with his wife minutes before the house caught fire has thus far been the most damaging evidence to the defense. Tinsley admitted to knowing that his wife planned to burn their home, but said he left sometime around 3:15 p.m., the day of the fire. The fire was reported by Glenda Tinsley around 4 p.m. The defendant denied having a hand in the preparation or setting of the fire.
The commonwealth will continue calling witnesses next week. Once the prosecution completes its presentation, defense attorney Don Thomas of Benton will lay out the Tinsley's side of the case.
Having such a long break in this type of trial is very unusual, and the judge pointed that out as she strongly admonished the jury to avoid talking about the case over the coming week. She told jurors to contact the sheriff if anyone approaches one of them to discuss the trial. She also told jurors to avoid reading about the trial in the media and to avoid any Facebook discussions or other Internet sites that might be discussing it. The court also took the notes that had been kept by jurors. Those notes will be returned to them when the trial resumes next week.
The Crittenden Press printed edition will have a complete wrap up of the first two days of the trial when it's published next week. The newspaper is available on newsstands after 3 p.m., Wednesday.
