28 August 2017 :

Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Friday he intends to commute Jason Farrell McGehee's sentence from death to life without parole. Hutchinson said his decision was based on the Parole Board's 6-1 recommendation earlier this year (see April 5) that McGehee, now 41, White, be granted clemency. "My intent to grant clemency to Mr. McGehee is based partly on the recommendation of the Parole Board to commute his sentence from Death to Life Without Parole," Hutchinson said in a statement. "In making this decision I considered many factors including the entire trial transcript, meetings with members of the victim's family and the recommendation of the Parole Board. In addition, the disparity in sentence given to Mr. McGehee compared to the sentences of his co-defendants was a factor in my decision, as well." McGehee was 1 of 3 defendants convicted of capital murder and kidnapping in the torture/beating of 15-year-old John Melbourne Jr. in Harrison and his ultimate strangulation death near Omaha in August 1996. Melbourne was believed to have been a snitch. Christopher Epps, now 41, was sentenced to life in prison without parole on capital murder and 40 years for kidnapping, while Benjamin MacFarland, now 38, was sentenced to life without parole on capital murder and life on kidnapping. MacFarland was 17 at the time and the youngest of the 3 defendants. Due to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, he was resentenced to 40 years in prison and he must serve 70 % of that sentence before being eligible for parole. Both MacFarland and McGehee were tried in Baxter County on a change of venue due to pretrial publicity before and during Epps' trial in Boone County.