No new trial for Shepard
Kevin Dewayne Shepard’s hope for a new trial came to a close when the Sixth Court of Appeals in Texarkana rejected his argument. Shepard had insisted that the eyewitness was an accomplice whose testimony must be corroborated. Instead, the court found the eyewitness credible and that the witness was not involved in the crime.
According to court records of the appeal, “Margaret Thomas testified that she witnessed Kevin DeWayne Shepard, Jr., kill Cynthia Renae Arnold and Donnie Monroe Combs and dispose of their bodies by fire. After hearing Thomas’s testimony, a Cass County jury convicted Shepard of capital murder. Following a bench trial on punishment, the trial court sentenced Shepard to life imprisonment, without the possibility of parole, and ordered him to pay $562.00 in court costs.
“On appeal, Shepard argues that Thomas was his accomplice, that there was insufficient corroboration of Thomas’s testimony, and that, as a result, he was egregiously harmed by the trial court’s failure to include an accomplice-witness instruction in the jury charge. Shepard also argues that the trial court erred by allowing Arnold’s daughter, Laura to testify after she allegedly violated the witness sequestration rule and that the judgment imposed unauthorized court costs.
“We conclude that neither corroboration of Thomas’s testimony nor an accomplice-witness instruction was required because Thomas was not an accomplice to Shepard’s crime. We also find that Shepard was unharmed by Laura’s testimony but conclude that court costs must be reduced. As a result, we modify the trial court’s judgment and bill of costs to reduce the court costs assessed and affirm the judgment, as modified.”
In the original case on Thursday, June 16, 2022, the Cass County jury convicted Kevin Shepard, of Atlanta, Texas of the Capital Murder of Donnie Combs and Cynthia Arnold. Upon conviction, Fifth District Judge Bill Miller sentenced Shepard to an automatic life sentence without the possibility of parole. Uncle Gary Shepard, 50, of Bivins, Texas was also indicted for the murders in September 2020 but has yet to go to trial.
According to the original press release sent from the Cass County District Attorney’s office, at the time “the case was tried by special prosecutors Geoff Barr and Aurora Perez with the Texas Attorney General’s Office. Kevin Shepard was represented by Texarkana attorney Butch Dunbar. During the three-day trial, the jury heard from family members, deputies from the Cass County Sheriff ’s Office, the Marion County Sheriff ’s Office, members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Evidence Recovery Team, forensic scientists, and an eyewitness to the murders.
“The evidence showed that the last time either family had heard from Donnie Combs or Cynthia Arnold was on September 25, 2018. A missing person’s report was filed with the Cass County Sheriff ’s Office, and on September 30, 2018, Marion County Sheriff ’s Office Investigator Alisha Riehl testified that she responded to a burned truck on a county road in Marion County. This truck was later identified as Cynthia Arnold’s. Texas Ranger Josh Mason, who was assisting the Cass County Sheriff ’s Office stated that Kevin Shepard was a name that was always “of interest” in the investigation. Several leads were followed, but ultimately the case went cold until July of 2019 when an eyewitness came forward.
“That eyewitness testified on Tuesday and stated that sometime in late September 2018 she was introduced to Kevin Shepard by a mutual friend. She was not from east Texas and was unfamiliar with the area. Shepard took her to a trailer with no electricity and no running water where she admitted they smoked meth. She was unable to state how long they stayed on the property but believed it to be about a week. While there, she met the man and woman (later identified as Donnie Combs and Cynthia Arnold) on two separate occasions. The second time they were there, Combs was outside shooting guns with Shepard near a fire in a trash pit. The eyewitness and Arnold were inside the trailer. Arnold decided she was tired and decided to go lay down in her truck.
“The eyewitness testified that she walked outside and was sitting outside in a chair in a shop near where the truck was parked. She testified that Shepard said, “watch this” and shot Arnold in the head. Shepard then stated, “I got something for you too” and shot Combs as well. She stated that Combs got up and ran, and Shepard chased him. She heard more gunshots and what sounded like someone getting beat with a gun, and when Shepard came back without Combs he stated, “he wouldn’t go down.” The witness testified that Shepard then left again and came back dragging a rolled-up carpet, where she could see the boots of a person hanging out the end. Shepard threw him in a fire pit, which she described as very large.
“Shepard then dragged Arnold out of the truck into a wheelbarrow and wheeled the wheelbarrow with Arnold’s body into the fire pit. He threw tires and trash in the fire pit and burned the bodies. The witness stated at one point Shepard asked her to get in the pit with him to make sure there were no bones or teeth remaining, but she refused. At some point, Shepard made her follow him in his car to a county road some distance away where he set Arnold’s truck on fire.
“A former member of the FBI’s Evidence Recovery Team testified that in 2020 they were requested by the Cass County District Attorney’s Office to dig and sift the fire pit area. She stated that items that appeared to be bones were collected and sent to the FBI forensic lab in Quantico, Virginia. A forensic scientist from that team testified that four (4) of the bones were confirmed as human bones and three (3) were consistent with human bones. There was significant thermal damage to the human bones.
“We are extremely grateful to the Cass County Sheriff ’s Office, Marion County Sheriff ’s Office, Texas Rangers, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Texas Department of Public Safety for their assistance in this investigation, and to the Texas Attorney General’s Office for their assistance in the prosecution,” said Cass County Criminal District Attorney Courtney Shelton, “But what I am especially proud of is the strength and courage of our eyewitness who finally came forward and was able to give the Arnold and Combs families the closure they deserved. Kevin Shepard committed a heinous crime in our county, and I am grateful that the jury could see the truth and did not reward him for attempting to destroy the evidence.”
The original indictments alleged Kevin Shepard caused the deaths of Combs and Arnold, and Gary Shepard solicited or directed the killing of Donnie Combs due to his status as a prospective witness. Investigators believe Gary Shepard and Kevin Shepard targeted Donnie Combs because they believed he was going to be a witness against Gary Shepard in an ongoing felony theft case.
The missing persons and murder case was investigated by the Cass County Sheriff ’s Department, Investigators with the Cass County District Attorney’s Office, and the Texas Rangers.
At the time of the original arrest, Kevin Shepard was in the Cass County jail on unrelated charges and was served with the warrant of arrest on the morning of October 6. Gary Shepard was apprehended in Arkansas on October 5 with the help of the U.S. Marshall’s Fugitive Apprehension Unit and served with the capital murder warrant. He was also arrested on a warrant stemming from an indictment for sexual assault, also handed down on September 30. Investigators do not believe the sexual assault for which he was separately indicted is related to the murders.
According to KSLA News, when asked about the jury’s decision Lamecia Propp Smith, Kevin’s mother said, “I kind of figured it was gonna go this way because we live in Cass County and that’s how they operate.” Lamecia said at the time that they planned to appeal the jury’s guilty verdict. Indeed it was appealed and the defendant lost the appeal.
The family members of the victims after the original conviction say they are pleased with the decision.”
Jovi Combs and Madeline Carroll, the victims’ family said after the original verdict, “I feel good to feel at peace most definitely at peace and I will be able to sleep better at night knowing he will not ever be able to get out we feel good about today to take this as a good lesson and love others a little more start the healing process,” reported KSLA.