Hope PD Investigating Homicide

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HOPE, ARK – The Hope Police Department is investigating the homicide of a Hope man that occurred some time between 5 p.m. Tuesday, July 1 and 9 a.m. Wednesday, July 2.

A man who works in the area said that he heard a woman screaming just before 9 a.m. Wednesday morning and went out to see what was wrong. According to the man, the woman told him to call 911 because she had found her father laying in the floor of his residence covered in blood. He said he immediately called 911.

According to HPD Chief J.R. Wilson, a call came in to 911 at 9 a.m. for a sick or injured person at 302 South Ferguson. Chief Wilson said Pafford EMS was contacted and officers in the area arrived on scene immediately. The officers discovered the body of 57-year-old Gary Tuberville inside his residence and called for Criminal Investigation Division (CID) detectives.

Chief Wilson said CID arrived on scene at 9:10 a.m. and began investigating what appeared to be a homicide. Hempstead County Coroner Ben Brazzel was contacted and pronounced Tuberville dead at the scene.

Investigators thoroughly examined the small residence located behind Antiques & Things on West 3rd Street. Chief Wilson said investigators are interviewing possible witnesses and following all leads.

People in the area familiar with Tuberville said he was a nice man who seemed to keep to himself and did various small jobs for people including restoring old furniture. One witness reported seeing him at around 5 p.m. Tuesday evening.

Chief J.R. Wilson said in a release that the cause of death in the homicide of Gary Tuberville appears to be “forced trauma” to the body but he would not comment further on the type of forced trauma that investigators believe it to be. The Chief said that the scene was processed for forensic evidence and Tuberville’s body was submitted to the Arkansas State Crime Lab for autopsy.

In his release, Chief Wilson said, “Violent acts such as this are senseless and to the greatest extent violate the most basic rights of human life, dignity and standing imposed on all human kind by the creator himself. It is of the utmost importance that any person with any information connected to this crime contact our CID personnel for further investigation. Our commitment is to pursue this case and cases like it to the fullest extent. Our hearts go out to the family of Mr. Tuberville. Our investigation continues. The dissemination of any additional information would not be appropriate at this time.”

Chief Wilson asks that anyone with information regarding Mr. Tuberville’s death contact Detective Andrew Watson of the HPD Criminal Investigative Division at 870-722-2563.

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