Free Republic

A jury sentenced an Arkansas man to life in prison without parole for killing a television anchor, officials said Thursday. The Pulaski County, Arkansas, jury on Wednesday convicted Curtis Lavelle Vance, 29, of capital murder, residential burglary, rape and theft of property in the October 2008 slaying of Anne Pressly, 26. Pressly, the morning news anchor for CNN affiliate KATV, was found beaten and unconscious in her home. She died five days later... Prosecutor Larry Jegley said the jury gave Vance "everything they could give him except the death penalty..." Among the defense witnesses presented Thursday was Vance's mother, who...

Less than a week since emotional testimony began, a jury found Curtis Vance guilty in the rape and beating death of popular Little Rock, Ark., anchorwoman Anne Pressly today. Prosecutors told the jurors in the trial that DNA evidence proved that Vance, 29, was the one who broke into Pressly's home last October and savagely beat and raped her until she was unconscious. Pressly died five days later. The jury must now decide whether Vance should face the death penalty or life in prison, the Associated Press reported. Prosecutors said the DNA evidence also linked Vance to another attack, the...

Prosecutors rested their capital murder case against Curtis Lavelle Vance, 29, after testimony from the state's deputy medical examiner, who spoke about Pressly's final moments of consciousness. Vance, of Marianna, has pleaded not guilty to murder, rape and burglary. If convicted, he could face the death penalty. Dr. Stephen Erickson said an examination of Pressly's body after her death revealed that her face shattered "like an egg" during the attack. "I could feel crunchiness" while examining Pressly's face, he said. A photo he used showed her nose pushed to one side. Erickson said some type of object likely was used...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - The man accused of killing an Arkansas television anchorwoman from South Carolina will appear in court and could discuss why he refused to take part in a mental competency exam.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A deputy prosecutor in Arkansas says the man charged with capital murder in the beating death of a TV anchorwoman has confessed to the killing. Curtis Vance is charged in the beating death last October of Anne Pressly, an anchorwoman for KATV in Little Rock. Pressly survived five days after she was found severely beaten in her home.

LITTLE ROCK, AR - Little Rock Police say they have arrested the man wanted in the beating death of Little Rock television anchor Anne Pressly. During a 10:00 p.m. news conference Wednesday night, police issued a warrant for Curtis Lavelle Vance, 28, of Marianna, Arkansas, charging him with capital murder in Pressly's beating. Our Little Rock sister station tells us Vance was arrested at the intersection of 24th & Cross in Little Rock. The anchorwoman's mother found her body Oct. 20, a half-hour before Pressly was due on KATV's 5 a.m. "Daybreak" program. Pressly had been beaten about the head...