Man Gets Life Without Parole In De Kalb Double Murder

NEW BOSTON, Texas–A repeat offender who murdered two people last year at a De Kalb, Texas, home was found guilty of capital murder Thursday and sentenced to life in a Lone Star State prison without the possibility of parole.

Clyde Allen Stephens, 36, was convicted in the June 19, 2025, deaths of Donna Culpepper, 63, and Charles Beckham, 64. Stephens was also found guilty of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle for the theft of Culpepper’s rental car.

Stephens had asked that his punishment on the auto theft be decided by the court rather than the jury of seven men and five women who convicted him. Judge Jeff Addison sentenced Stephens to 20 years for that crime.

Beckham is believed to have interrupted Stephens as he was stealing items from his home, including firearms. Stephens shot Beckham and set his body and truck on fire. Culpepper was discovered lying face down in Beckham’s driveway in the 700 block of Private Road 42041. She had been shot in the face.

Stephens was driving Culpepper’s rental car when he was arrested in Arkansas days after the murders. Stephens fled from law enforcement in White County but was eventually taken into custody.

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Investigators found evidence directly linking Stephens to the murders at a residence in Searcy, Ark., where he had been staying after Beckham and Culpepper were killed.

The state did not seek the death penalty for Stephens, the only other punishment for capital murder available under Texas law than life without parole. The elected district attorney “reviews and determines whether to seek the death penalty on all cases,” according to campaign materials circulated by District Attorney Jerry Rochelle ahead of the March primary this year.

Stephens is represented by Texarkana lawyer Jeff Harrelson. District Attorney-elect Kelley Crisp and Assistant District Attorney Bradley Akins represented the state.