The Sentinel-Record 6-3-1978

A trial date for Hot Springs Police Lt. Thurman Abernathy, who is charged with first-degree murder, is expected to be set during pre-trial conference in Malvern Monday, according to Hot Spring County Prosecuting Attorney John Cole.

Abernathy is charged in the 1976 death of Garland County Sheriff’s Deputy Linda Edwards, whose skeletal remains were found in a mountainous area, just inside the Hot Spring County line, about six months after her disappearance.

Abernathy, who has been suspended from the police department pending the outcome of the trial, was arrested about four months later but is free under a $50,000 bond.

The case was set for trial twice earlier this year but was continued each time at the request of defense attorney Jack Holt Jr., of Little Rock.

Cole declined to speculate about a date on which the trial might be set, saying he has not had an opportunity to go over the current criminal docket.