Arkansas mayor, murder victim's sister reacts to Grant Hardin's escape
The town where Arkansas prison escapee and convicted murderer Grant Hardin once served as police chief remains on edge, according to its mayor who is also the sister of Hardin's victim.
"Anxiety is still high," Cheryl Tillman, the mayor of Gateway, Arkansas, told Paste BN in an interview May 28. "I think everybody's still on alert, being vigilant, doing every precaution that they can."
Hardin, 56, escaped from the North Central Unit in Calico Rock on May 25, wearing a "makeshift outfit designed to mimic law enforcement," according to the Arkansas Department of Corrections.
Hardin had been serving time for the 2017 murder of James Appleton, Tillman's brother, in Gateway and the 1997 rape of a school teacher in nearby Rogers. He was sentenced to 80 years on the combined convictions, according to court records.
Tillman described Hardin, who served as Gateway's police chief while Tillman was on the city council in 2016, as "very arrogant" and "angry."
"He's an evil person," Tillman said.
Hardin remains at large as of Wednesday night, with the FBI, Department of Corrections, Arkansas State Police and local police were working to find Hardin, officials said earlier in the day.
Sister remembers brother slain at hands of 'Devil in the Ozarks'
Hardin pleaded guilty to in 2017 to murder in the first degree for shooting and killing Appleton in February of the same year, according to court records.
Appleton's brother-in-law and Cheryl's husband, Andrew Tillman, told Benton County Sheriff's investigators that he was on the phone with Appleton when he was shot, according to a probable cause affidavit. Andrew was the Gateway's mayor at the time of the shooting.
Cheryl described Appleton as a "very good brother" with a strong civic sense who obtained a license to work for the Gateway Rural Water Authority when asked by his brother-in-law.
"Everybody in this town knew James. They knew that they could call James if they needed help on anything," Tillman said.
Tillman said that learning of Hardin's escape brought back memories of the murder.
"Everything was happening all over again. From the time he shot my brother and the time we had to go to court with him," Tillman said.
The 1997 rape was the focus of a 2023 documentary titled "Devil in the Ozarks," for which Tillman was interviewed. She said that the interview was "tough to do."
"We’ve since been in touch with the subjects of that film and law enforcement and are praying for Hardin’s immediate capture in the name of justice and the victims and their families’ peace of mind," Ari Mark, one of the executive producers of the documentary, told Paste BN in a statement May 28.
Tillman emphasized the need for residents of Gateway, a place she described as "a very quiet town" where "everybody knows everybody," to remain vigilant while Hardin remained at-large.
"Lock their doors. If they need to, load their guns," Tillman said. "Whatever they need to do, just stay vigilant and watch your backs."
Contributing: N'dea Yancey-Bragg, Michael Loria, Jorge L. Ortiz, Paste BN.