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Freeman Charged In Wife's Death

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A Stone County man has been charged with murder in the first degree in the shooting death of his wife Sept. 23.

Nathaniel A. Freeman, 54, is accused of shooting Dora Freeman, 46, at their Lee Hiil Road residence during an incident in which he also suffered a gunshot wound.

According to a state police affidavit filed by Special Agent Corporal Justin Nowlin, the Stone County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call at approximately 4:36 p.m. The male caller did not state the reason for the call and the dispatcher believed the caller to be intoxicated. The male subject made a second 911 call at 4:55 p.m. and said “she shot me.”

Stone County deputies arrived at the Lee Hill Road residence just after 5 p.m, and entered the residence to find Nathaniel Freeman lying on the kitchen floor with an apparent gunshot wound to the abdomen. Dora Freeman was lying on the floor next to him with a .22 caliber revolver in her right hand. She was deceased.

Nathaniel Freeman was flown from the scene to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences hospital in Little Rock.

The affidavit states that during investigation of the crime scene, it was discovered the .22 caliber revolver was a single action revolver which requires the shooter to pull the hammer back in order to fire the weapon. The revolver had two fired rounds in the cylinder. The hammer was laid down on an un-fired cartridge, indicating the revolver had been fired twice, then someone pulled the hammer back and eased it down on the un-fired cartridge.

Investigators identified an apparent gunshot wound to the left rear of Dora Freeman’s head behind the left ear. Following an autopsy, the medical examiner’s office ruled the death a homicide after determining that the wound was not a contact wound and that the round had not been fired at close range. The location of the wound and the trajectory of the bullet that killed Dora Freeman was inconsistent with the revolver being in her right hand.

During the course of the investigation it was learned through witnesses that Dora Freeman was planning to tell Nathaniel Freeman she was leaving him that day. She had been making plans for an alternate place to live.

On Sept. 30, Nathaniel Freeman told investigators that she had come home that day and after being home a short time had gone into the master bedroom and retrieved the revolver, then had entered the kitchen where he was and shot him in the stomach. He then passed out, he said, and when he awoke he observed her on the kitchen floor.

Nathaniel Freeman’s bond was set at $1 million.

From the Oct. 23, 2019 issue.

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