Polk County Men Strike Plea Deals in Logan County Murder Case

BY MELANIE BUCK –

Nick Charles Stoicu, age 39, and Joseph Oliah Hals Brown, age 32, both of Polk County, have struck plea deals in the murder of Ritchie Lee Lynch of Booneville on April 2, 2015. Both Stoicu and Brown received 30-year sentences in the Arkansas Department of Correction on charges of 2nd Degree Murder.

Stoicu plead guilty on Monday, June 27, 2016 and was sentenced by Logan County Circuit Judge Jerry Don Ramey. Brown pled no contest to the same charges on June 3, 2016. Three other defendants were also charged in the case. Teresa Bennett, age 36, of Booneville pled guilty on June 3, 2016 to Robbery (reduced from Aggravated Robbery), and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Robert Melton, age 52, of Waldron, is scheduled for trial on July 15, 2016 on charges of 1st Degree Murder, Aggravated Robbery and Felon in Possession of a Firearm. Melton was arrested on February 29, 2016 and has been held since on a $100,000 bond. Dave Ann Townsend, age 37, of Pine Bluff, is scheduled for trial on July 29, 2016 on a charge of Aggravated Robbery. She is being held in the Logan County Jail on $50,000 bond.

Bennett, Melton, and Townsend were set to be witnesses in the case against both Stoicu and Brown, however, when the three refused to testify in a trial set in February 2016, charges were brought against them as well.

According to records, Melton was questioned regarding the murder and told investigators that on the night of April 2, 2015, the five of them traveled to the residence of Lynch in a maroon SUV with the intent of robbing Lynch of his money and drugs.

Melton said that after parking the SUV down the road from the Lynch residence in a wooded area that had been cleared, the three men walked to Lynch’s home while the women stayed in the vehicle.

According to Melton, he kept watch at the gate of the residence while Brown and Stoicu went into the home where Stoicu carried a rifle and Brown carried a handgun. Melton said after a few minutes he heard someone yell and then heard around four gunshots after which, Brown and Stoicu came outside carrying a black bag and told Melton they had shot Lynch and “left him lying there.”

After returning to the vehicle, the group traveled to a residence in Waldron where Brown and Stoicu broke down the guns they had allegedly used before offering Melton $800 cash and 17 grams of methamphetamine for his part in the activity. Melton stated that he declined the offer.

Bennett was also questioned by investigators and said that she had shown the others where Lynch lived and that when the trio of men returned to the SUV from Lynch’s residence that the men had stated that “it had gone bad.”

Both Stoicu and Brown were arrested in Polk County following the murder and were housed at the Polk County Detention Center before being transferred to Logan County. On April 3, 2015 the Polk County Sheriff’s Office arrested Brown on charges of Possession of a Schedule VI Controlled Substance, Possession of a Schedule I/II Controlled Substance, Possession of a Schedule I/II Substance Not Meth or Cocaine, Possession Drug Paraphernalia, Theft of a Vehicle, Breaking or Entering and Violation of a Suspended Imposition of Sentence.

Stoicu was arrested by Polk County Sheriff’s Deputies on April 9, 2015 for charges of Possession of Meth or Cocaine with Purpose to Deliver, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia and Simultaneous Possession of Drugs and Firearms.

Both Stoicu and Brown have been detained in Arkansas Department of Corrections since being formally charged in Logan County. Both will receive credit for time served.

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