Victims' Families Relieved by Murder Convictions in Conway
By: KARK 4 News
Updated: January 21, 2013
A family says they are finally sleeping well for the first time in more than a decade after a man was found guilty Friday of murdering two people in Conway.
Previous prosecutors had decided not to move forward with charges.
But after it was finally brought to trial, the jury needed less than an hour to come back with two guilty verdicts. That's something family members believe says it all.
"That said to me there was no question this man was guilty, we just needed charges to be filed and the story to be told. And when it was told, the decision came quickly because it was evident he was guilty of murder," said Trey Elliott, the son of one of the murder victims.
Elliott has thought about his dad nearly every day since Carter Elliott and Timothy Robinson were found murdered in Elliott' s Conway home in 2002.
Richard Conte was found guilty for those murders Friday and sentenced to serve the rest of his life in prison.
He'd only last year been released from a Nevada prison where he was serving time on kidnapping and rape charges.
Victims' family memberswere long convinced Conte was guilty of murder but they had worried he'd get away with it.
Monday, they told KARK they are so full of joy and so grateful for this outcome.
"I am just glad he's in jail and I can let my kids in the yard to play and I don't have to worry about whoever," said Ashley Waldron, Carter Elliott's daugther.
KARK spoke with prosecutors and police who credit each other for really staying on top of this, even after so many years.
Evidence as simple as a Taco Bell receipt linking Conte to the area, they say, helped seal this conviction.
Conte will soon be transferred to the state prison system.
Previous prosecutors had decided not to move forward with charges.
But after it was finally brought to trial, the jury needed less than an hour to come back with two guilty verdicts. That's something family members believe says it all.
"That said to me there was no question this man was guilty, we just needed charges to be filed and the story to be told. And when it was told, the decision came quickly because it was evident he was guilty of murder," said Trey Elliott, the son of one of the murder victims.
Elliott has thought about his dad nearly every day since Carter Elliott and Timothy Robinson were found murdered in Elliott' s Conway home in 2002.
Richard Conte was found guilty for those murders Friday and sentenced to serve the rest of his life in prison.
He'd only last year been released from a Nevada prison where he was serving time on kidnapping and rape charges.
Victims' family memberswere long convinced Conte was guilty of murder but they had worried he'd get away with it.
Monday, they told KARK they are so full of joy and so grateful for this outcome.
"I am just glad he's in jail and I can let my kids in the yard to play and I don't have to worry about whoever," said Ashley Waldron, Carter Elliott's daugther.
KARK spoke with prosecutors and police who credit each other for really staying on top of this, even after so many years.
Evidence as simple as a Taco Bell receipt linking Conte to the area, they say, helped seal this conviction.
Conte will soon be transferred to the state prison system.
