A new trial date has been scheduled for a Miller County murder defendant accused of fatally stabbing a man as he drove his pickup on a Texarkana, Ark., street in November.
Cameron Scott Halliburton, aka “Fishman,” appeared with Managing Public Defender Jason Mitchell on Tuesday morning for a pretrial hearing. Mitchell told Circuit Judge Carlton Jones that the defense needs more time to prepare and requested that the case, which was set for trial Aug. 20, be scheduled for jury selection in November.
Mitchell said his investigator requires additional time to conduct interviews with witnesses and locate character witnesses for Halliburton. Prosecuting Attorney Stephanie Potter Barrett said her office has provided copies of all evidence the state will use at trial to the defense.
“The state is ready,” Barrett said.
Jones agreed to reschedule the case for Nov. 26, which is the same date in 2017 that Halliburton allegedly killed 27-year-old Jarrod Klein.
Klein was found dead in the early hours of Nov. 26, 2017, behind the wheel of his Chevy Colorado truck near a Texarkana, Ark., dollar store.
Texarkana, Ark., police responded to call at approximately 3:30 a.m. regarding a possible one-vehicle accident. When they arrived, officers discovered the truck up against a tree. Klein was still in the driver’s seat and appeared to have stab wounds to his face, neck and chest, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Evidence at the scene led investigators to conclude that the truck had driven across the parking lot of the Family Dollar Store on west 9th Street in Texarkana, Ark., before jumping the curb onto Linden Street and heading into a tree and embankment in a nearby wooded area. Dirt and debris discovered behind the truck’s rear wheels led officers to believe the wheels had been spinning after the pickup struck the tree and stopped. However, the truck was in park and the ignition key was missing when discovered by police.
Video surveillance collected from the dollar store showed the truck drive quickly across the parking lot at about 1:40 a.m. Nov. 26, 2017, before hopping the curb onto Linden and moving out of view toward the direction where Halliburton’s truck and body were found. Shortly after the truck is seen driving across the store’s lot and out of view, a man can be seen walking “erratically” across the Family Dollar parking lot and walking into the store’s locked door, according to the affidavit.
“The video from the interior of the business was able to capture a good image of Halliburton’s face when he walked into the door,” the affidavit states.
Investigators were able to find witnesses who put Klein together with someone known as “Fishman” earlier in the night by contacting people listed in a cell phone found in the car. After determining that “Fishman” often stayed with someone who lives in the 700 block of Main Street in Texarkana, Texas, officers began searching in that area. Halliburton was found sleeping near a dumpster on Main Street. He allegedly had a cut on his finger, an empty knife sheath on his belt and blood on his clothing.
Halliburton allegedly claimed at first that Klein, whom he described as his “best friend,” had dropped him off about 45 minutes after midnight. When he learned that Klein was dead and that he was being arrested for murder, Halliburton allegedly blamed the crime on someone else and claimed he was sleeping in the car during the attack. Halliburton allegedly told investigators he cut his hand on a fishing lure.
Halliburton allegedly told officers he had to climb over the driver’s seat and exit through the driver’s door because the passenger side door was damaged in the crash and inoperable. When officers examined the truck, they found the passenger side door unlocked and functioning normally.
Halliburton is being held in the Miller County jail with bail set at $750,000. He faces 10 to 40 years or life in prison if found guilty of murder.
