True Crime Chronicles: Career criminal found his forever home at the Warner Unit after a night of brutality in 2020

Wayne Robert Madole I

Wayne Robert Madole III entered the McKinney farm property in Franklin County one night in 2020 armed with handguns and accompanied by a woman. The pair targeted two residences on the same land.

They first broke into the main house occupied by Louise McKinney and her husband Malcolm. They kicked in the door, ransacked the interior, and stole a .380-caliber pistol before moving to a nearby rent house occupied by tenant Dana Deen.

Inside Deen’s residence Madole held a gun to her face and ordered her to the ground. He demanded drugs and referred to his accomplice as “captain,” “investigator,” or “lieutenant” while directing her to keep a weapon trained on Deen. Madole smashed open a locked bedroom door and forced Deen to open drawers and a closet.

When the search yielded nothing he marched her back to the living room, locked the front door, and raised a handgun. The weapon misfired twice. On the third pull the gun discharged and struck Deen in the neck and right shoulder. She collapsed. Moments later she heard someone at the door, unlocked it, and staggered outside into the arms of Malcolm McKinney and arriving officers while covered in blood.

The McKinneys had returned home earlier that evening after checking cattle, spotted a red pickup truck in their carport, and found their own house burglarized with the pistol missing. Malcolm called police and walked to Deen’s house to check on her just as officers arrived.

Franklin County Deputy Marvin Whorton and Arkansas State Trooper Tyler Williams Madole and the woman exited walking backward. Madole announced they were “FBI special forces.” Officers took both into custody without further resistance.

Deputy Curtis Bishop processed the scene, photographed the damage and Deen’s injuries, and recovered the stolen .380 pistol. Paramedics treated Deen at the site before airlifting her to a Level I trauma center in Little Rock for the penetrating neck and shoulder wounds.

Body-camera footage captured the arrests and Madole’s statements. Security video from the McKinney residence showed the red truck and the pair’s movements. Prosecutors charged Madole with aggravated residential burglary, attempted first-degree murder, first-degree battery, residential burglary, breaking or entering, theft of a firearm, and second-degree criminal impersonation, plus firearm enhancements.

The female accomplice later pleaded guilty.

Madole, then 35, already carried a habitual-offender designation from earlier convictions. Born August 30, 1985, he had served prison time after 2014 Benton and Washington County cases involving delivery of methamphetamine and cocaine, forgery, and related counts that produced sentences ranging from five to 18 years.

His record listed two prior incarcerations with the Arkansas Division of Correction. P

Jury selection and trial unfolded in Franklin County Circuit Court. In opening remarks defense counsel Ernie Witt told jurors that Madole had committed some of the offenses and that the proceedings would focus on determining punishment rather than guilt. Dana Deen testified in detail about the gun in her face, the search for nonexistent drugs, the misfires, and the shot that struck her.

Louise and Malcolm McKinney described discovering the break-in and aiding Deen. Officers recounted the response, the FBI claim, and the evidence collection. The stolen handgun, photographs, and body-camera recordings with transcripts entered as exhibits. The jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts on the dates reflected in the record.On June 30, 2022, the court sentenced Madole to life imprisonment for aggravated residential burglary. Concurrent terms followed: 720 months for attempted first-degree murder, 480 months each for first-degree battery and residential burglary, 180 months each for breaking or entering and theft of a firearm, and 12 months for criminal impersonation. Firearm enhancements added 180 months consecutive on the aggravated-burglary, attempted-murder, and battery counts.

The Arkansas Supreme Court reviewed the case in 2023 under a no-merit procedure. Counsel filed a brief asserting no arguable issues for appeal. Madole submitted pro se points alleging ineffective assistance, prosecutorial misconduct, double jeopardy, speedy-trial violations, and illegal sentence enhancements.

The court examined the entire record because of the life sentence, found no reversible error, affirmed all convictions and sentences, and granted counsel’s motion to withdraw. Madole remains incarcerated at the Varner Unit where he will spend the rest of his life.