Robbery motive in 5 rural Arkansas deaths

[November 21, 2009]  HOT SPRINGS, Ark. (AP) -- Thieves shot to death five Arkansas family members and burned their bodies for the meager bounty of a set of wheel rims and some flat-screen televisions, court documents said Friday.

Samuel Conway and Jeremy Pickney, both 23, pleaded not guilty Friday to charges of capital murder, aggravated residential burglary and arson, Garland County court documents showed.

Police fatally shot a third suspect, 22-year-old Marvin Lamar Stringer, in a nighttime raid at a motel Thursday.

Firefighters had discovered four bodies in a torched mobile home after the Nov. 12 attack in the small town of Pearcy: 56-year-old Edward "Eddie" Earl Gentry Jr.; his 52-year-old wife Pam; their 24-year-old son Jeremy and his 19-year-old girlfriend Kristyn N. Warneke.

Police found the body of Eddie's 80-year-old father, Edward Earl Gentry Sr., in a home next door.

In documents filed to the court, police said a confidential informant told them that Conway showed him a gun and Pickney offered the stolen wheel rims and televisions for sale the day after the killings.

Garland County Sheriff's Lt. James Martin declined to answer questions after the hearing, saying investigations were ongoing.

[Associated Press; By JON GAMBRELL]

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