HOPE, Ark–A man accused of pouring weed eater gas on his wife and lighting her on fire in July won’t face the death penalty, according to a notice filed Wednesday by Hempstead County prosecutors.
Bruce Lee Cockrell Jr., 47, was arrested by the Hempstead County Sheriff’s Office for arson and capital murder after allegedly pouring gasoline on his wife and setting her on fire July 8. He has been charged with capital murder and arson as a habitual offender, court records show.
A notice filed Wednesday and signed by Prosecuting Attorney Ben Hale of the Eighth North Judicial District of Arkansas waives the death penalty for Bruce Cockrell, who faces life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted of capital murder in Tonya Cockrell’s death.
Tonya Cockrell, 35, reportedly told medical personnel at a Texarkana hospital where she was initially treated for her burn injuries, that Bruce Cockrell had been hitting and punching her while telling her “how ugly she was,” before dousing her with gas and lighting her body on fire. Tonya Cockrell died July 9 in the burn unit of Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, having suffered severe burns over her entire body, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Bruce Cockrell reportedly told investigators on the date of the fire that he and Tonya Cockrell were in bed when an electrical fire broke out in the bedroom and she caught fire. According to the affidavit, Bruce Cockrell suffered no burns or injuries.
At the scene, before she was transported to a Texarkana hospital for initial treatment of the burns that would eventually prove fatal, investigators noted that Tonya Cockrell told her husband to “get away” as she lay suffering, the affidavit said.
A jug of “weed eater gas” was found in the burned-out trailer’s kitchen, according to the affidavit.
Bruce Cockrell allegedly changed his account several days after the fire during an interview with investigators. He reportedly admitted to pouring the flammable liquid on his wife but allegedly claimed she lit a cigarette and set herself ablaze, the affidavit said. Bruce Cockrell allegedly told detectives that he and Tonya Cockrell had been drinking Fireball whiskey and arguing before the fire.
An information filed Wednesday charging Bruce Cockrell with capital murder includes a notice of the state’s intent to seek an enhanced punishment range of up to 60 years on the arson charge because he has four or more prior felony convictions.
Tonya Cockrell was questioned by Texarkana, Texas, police in February in connection with the theft of building materials from a large construction project in the city’s downtown, according to a probable cause affidavit on file in Bowie County, Texas. Tonya Cockrell told an investigator that she allowed her identification to be used in the sale of the building materials to a scrap yard because “she is scared of her husband, so she does what he says.”
Bruce Cockrell was charged with felony burglary in that case and in June he was placed on a five-year term of probation in Bowie County, Texas. He had only been out of jail for two weeks when he allegedly murdered his wife.
Cockrell is being held in the Hempstead County jail without bail on the capital murder and arson charges. A warrant is active for his arrest in Bowie County in connection with a motion to revoke his probation there.
