** Warning – story contains gruesome details that will be difficult for some**
MOUNTAIN HOME, Ark. — A Baxter County jury sentenced Ryan James Lindsey to life in prison without parole plus 15 years in a 2020 murder case that court records describe as beginning with a prolonged basement beating and ending with the victim’s body inside his burned car.
Lindsey, 33, was found guilty Sept. 18 of capital murder, kidnapping, second-degree battery and arson following a five-day trial in Baxter County Circuit Court, according to an Arkansas State Police release. The jury also imposed $12,500 in fines.
The victim, Cody Stradford, 35, of Mountain Home, was reported missing Dec. 9, 2020, after he had not been seen or heard from since Dec. 4, according to an amended probable cause affidavit. Deputies found human remains inside his burned vehicle in a wooded area of rural Baxter County on Dec. 16.
The affidavit and an amended charging document, both filed April 2, 2021, provide a more detailed account of the investigation. The affidavit identifies Arkansas State Police Special Agent Justin Nowlin as the affiant and summarizes statements investigators obtained from witnesses, other defendants and Lindsey. The amended charging document names David L. Ethredge as the prosecuting attorney.
According to the affidavit, witnesses said Lindsey met Stradford when he arrived in a silver Dodge Charger at a Mountain Home residence on Dec. 4 and invited him inside through the basement. The residence belonged to Skylar Brazil, another defendant identified in the records.
Witnesses upstairs reported hearing a commotion and someone asking for help and begging for the assault to stop. After going outside and looking through basement windows, they reported seeing Lindsey and Brazil beating Stradford while two others watched, the affidavit states. Witnesses also reported seeing Lindsey point a handgun at Stradford.
In a March 9, 2021, interview, a woman identified in the amended charging document as Allison Cunningham, also known as Alley Beckham, told investigators the beating lasted nearly an hour. She said Lindsey held a pistol to Stradford’s head and threatened to kill him, according to the affidavit.
Cunningham told investigators Lindsey asked Stradford what he wanted his last words to his family to be. According to the affidavit, she said Stradford replied, “Tell my son I’m proud of him.”
She also reported seeing Brazil force Stradford to ingest what she believed was methamphetamine and pills. Cunningham said she helped clean the basement and that Stradford was made to help clean up his own blood, according to the affidavit.
Cunningham told investigators she saw Stradford placed in the trunk of his own car. She admitted driving the Charger, with Stradford in the trunk, behind Lindsey’s BMW to a remote location in rural Baxter County, the affidavit states.
She said Lindsey removed Stradford from the trunk and placed him in the driver’s seat. Cunningham told investigators Stradford did not respond when Lindsey shut the door on his leg, and she believed he was already dead at that point.
According to the affidavit, Cunningham said Lindsey then shot Stradford with a pistol, poured what she believed was diesel fuel over the car and set it on fire with Stradford inside.
The affidavit said the cause and manner of Stradford’s death were still pending at the time the document was prepared in March 2021. The two filings do not include the final autopsy findings.
Another defendant identified in the records, Ashley Hendricks, told investigators during a March 17, 2021, interview that she witnessed a beating lasting nearly an hour. She admitted retrieving a gas can from the garage and placing it near Lindsey’s BMW, as well as helping clean the basement, according to the affidavit. Hendricks said she saw Stradford tied up and a bag placed over his head before he was taken from the residence.
The affidavit also includes Lindsey’s account from a March 24, 2021, interview. He admitted being at the residence and having a pistol, but denied fighting with Stradford. Lindsey said he had gone there to try to sell Stradford a stolen BMW, according to the affidavit.
Lindsey acknowledged driving away in the BMW while Cunningham followed in Stradford’s car. He told investigators they had left to get gas, the affidavit states.
State police said Lindsey was arrested in Brownsville, Texas, and returned to Baxter County to face charges. The Arkansas State Police Criminal Investigation Division investigated the death alongside the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office and the Mountain Home Police Department.
NEA Report obtained the affidavit and amended charging document through Arkansas Court Connect.
Lindsey will serve his sentence in the Arkansas Department of Corrections. Cases remain pending against others arrested and charged in Stradford’s death, according to the Sept. 21 state police release. Those defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
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