A former Douglas County emergency room doctor, scheduled to be released Sunday from Nevada on second-degree kidnapping charges, was charged today with capital murder in the death of the ex-husband of the woman he kidnapped.
Arkansas authorities will seek the extradition of Richard Conte, 61, to face murder charges in the May 18, 2002, deaths of Carter Elliott, 49, and his employee, Timothy Robertson, 25, in Conway, Ark.
Both Conte and Elliott had been married to Lark Gathright-Elliott. Conte’s marriage to her in 2001 lasted three months.
A month after the pair were slain in Arkansas, Conte kidnapped Gathright-Elliott from Utah and took her to his Clear Creek Canyon subdivision home. A contract physician with Carson-Tahoe Hospital, he drugged her. Sheriff’s deputies rescued her.
Conte pleaded guilty in 2003 to second-degree kidnapping and to illegally administering a controlled substance and received a 15-year sentence.
Cody Hiland took over as prosecuting attorney in Arkansas’ Twentieth Judicial District, which includes Conway, in January.
As to why he waited until the Friday before Conte’s release to file charges, Hiland replied: “This is an extensive file and obviously a serious issue. We had to examine it to determine whether prosecution was warranted.”
As far as prosecutors before him not filing charges, Hiland said, “I can’t speak for what has happened since 2002.”
Like Nevada, not every murder case in Arkansas can be a death penalty case. Hiland declined to discuss what justified the death penalty charges against Conte.
Based on his experience with these kinds of cases, he expects it to go to trial in 15 months to 18 months, Hiland said.
Lake Tahoe lawyer William Cole, who defended Conte on the Nevada charges, said in a 2003 interview that Conte has an alibi. Someone can place Conte in southern Utah the weekend of the Arkansas murders, Cole said.
“He’s a sitting duck for these kinds of accusations because of what happened with his wife,” Cole said. “If you look in one place hard enough, all the evidence seems to point in that direction because you’re not looking anywhere else.”
Investigators pointed out that they were able to find on Conte’s computer an Internet map for Conway and a list of law enforcement frequencies for central Arkansas.
“As far as our division is concerned, we’ve got the right man,” Conway, Ark., police Maj. Mark Elsinger said in 2003.
http://www.rgj.com/article/20110826/...t|Local%20News
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