Polk County mass murder suspect Brian Bliss Travis, who has been held in the Polk County Detention Center since being apprehended last month for the murder of four family members, has transferred to the Arkansas Department of Corrections where he will be held until his scheduled trial date in September.
The commitment to the ADC comes on the heels of a felony petition to revoke for drug-related arrested that occurred the same week the four bodies were discovered and because of the pending capital murder charges.
Travis was arrested and chrged with the murders of 2-year old Acelynn Wester, 9-year old Reilly Scarbrough, their mother, 43-year old Bethany Wester, and her uncle, 66-year old Steven Payne. Al f the bodies, with the exception of Payne’s, were found in a rural wooded area near Cove over a four day period in April.
Travis was transported to ADC early on Monday morning and will be shuttled to and from ADC on the dates he needs to appear in Polk County Circuit Court for “safety reasons” according to Polk County officials.
That will include his hearings and trials for both the drug and capital murder charges,
Travis’ first hearing in the quadruple murder case is set for July with the initial trial date set for September
Dennis W. McCaslin
Dennis McCaslin has been a longtime news and sports reporter for several media outlets in the Fort Smith area. He has also been a well known radio personality and play-by-play announcer for several years prior to joining InsideFortSmith.Com. He is the voice of the ArklahomaSports High School Game of the Week. E-mail: dennis@greatplainsdigital.com
