KENTUCKY MAN WANTED AS FUGITIVE FOR RAPE IN OHIO ARRESTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT IN WAYNE COUNTY
ARREST CASE MARKS SECOND TIME A WANTED FUGITVE RAPE OFFENDER NABBED IN WEST VIRGINIA BY U.S. MARSHALS IN 24 HOURS; AS AN ARKANSAS MAN SERVING LIFE SENTENCE ESCAPED FROM PRISON IN 2022, CAUGHT WITH FAMILY MEMBERS WHO AIDED HIS ESCAPE
AUGUST 30, 2023 – written by WADE QUEEN
A fugitive from Ohio was arrested in Wayne County, West Virginia, according to Wayne County Sheriff Rick Thompson.
William Gordon Newsome, 46, of Greenup, Kentucky, was arrested by the US Marshals, Wayne County Road Patrol units, and the Wayne County Sheriff Drug Enforcement Unit.
William Newsome was entered as a fugitive for rape, according to Sheriff Thompson; and is also a previously convicted felony offender.Law enforcement officials say the arrest was made on Patrick Road Creek in the Echo area of central Wayne County.
No further information has been released about the arrest case.The arrest of William Gordon Newsome marked the second time in less than 24 hours that U.S Marshals, along with West Virginia law enforcement agencies, arrested a fugitive rape suspect, specifically, an incest rape offender who had escaped from prison.
On Tuesday, August 29, a man serving a life sentence for rape was arrested at a Quality Inn motel in Lewisburg, W.VA., in Greenbrier County, after being on the run from an Arkansas prison since last year, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
RAPE PRISON ESCAPEE FROM ARKANSAS AND HIS ENABLERS BUSTED, LITERALLY FOR A COUPLE OF THE SUSPECTS, AFTER GETTING CUAGHT IN LEWISBURG, WEST VIRGINIA ON TUESDAY, AUGSUT 29.
Federal investigators stated Samuel Paul Hartman, 39, escaped on August 12, 2022 from the East Arkansas Regional Unit. He was serving a life sentence for the rape of his 14-year-old stepdaughter, having been sentenced in on November 22, 2013, in the Franklin County, Arkansas .
According to the U.S. Marshals Service, Hartman escaped while on work detail in a field near the detention facility.
Investigators say three other people were arrested Tuesday afternoon from the motel in Lewisburg: Hartman’s wife Misty Hartman, 39; his mother Linda Annette White, 61; and White’s boyfriend Rodney Trent, 52, of Lester, West Virginia.
Samuel Hartman reportedly violently resisted his arrest, and his face was bloodied and blood was visible on the hood of a squad car before being taken into custody. Lester Trent had some bruising and swollen marks on his face.
According to the U.S. Marshals Service, Hartman escaped while on work detail in a field near the detention facility.
Investigators say three other people were arrested Tuesday afternoon from the motel in Lewisburg: Hartman’s wife Misty Hartman, 39; his mother Linda Annette White, 61; and White’s boyfriend Rodney Trent, 52, of Lester, West Virginia.
According to the release, “Both women are alleged to have helped Samuel Hartman escape (in August 2022) using a pickup truck and jet skis. Lester Trent faces felony charges for allegedly harboring a sex offender and for assisting the trio while on the run.”
Investigators say the women fired shots toward the work crew as Samuel Paul Hartman ran toward an awaiting vehicle they had ready for him. The three proceeded toward an area near the Mississippi River where all three got away on two pre-staged jet skis.
Samuel Hartman was able to elude authorities, whether federal or local, for more than a year, and so were his alleged escape accomplices. Police authorities said that the three had help from his mother’s boyfriend, 52-year-old Rodney Trent of Lester, West Virginia, who now faces felony charges for harboring the sex offender and aiding his accomplices, U.S. Marshals said.
Federal investigators stated that the discovery of Linda White’s ties to Rodney Trent in West Virginia, which they said played a role in the capture of the four in Lewisburg.
Although Samuel Hartman had twenty-three (23) various disciplinary violations on his prison record from 2017 to 2021, including for “sexual activity,” his “risk score/level” was deemed “minimum” in July 2018, Arkansas Department Of Corrections records indicate.
West Virginia State Police, the Lewisburg Police Department and the Greenbrier County Sheriff’s Office assisted in the arrests, according to the U.S. Marshals Service.
