True Crime Chronicles: Pope County salvage yard murders sent Russellville man to prison for double life
- Dennis McCaslin
- May 1, 2025
- 3 min read
In September 2016, Tyler Barefield was convicted of the capital murders of Aaron Brock and Beau DeWitt at a salvage yard in Russellville.
The crime led to two life sentences without parole, plus 180 months for firearm enhancements. Now at Varner Supermax, Barefield’s case involves a double homicide, a contentious trial, and ongoing legal disputes.
Tyler Joseph Barefield was born on March 26, 1981. Raised in Pope County, he co-owned U-Pull-It Auto Parts, a family-run salvage yard south of Russellville. The business faced frequent thefts, and Barefield, then 35, was known to patrol the property to protect it.
Aaron Brock and Beau DeWitt, both 22, were from Dardanelle, near Russellville. They had a history of sneaking into U-Pull-It to steal car parts, confirmed by Brock’s girlfriend at trial.
DeWitt’s mother, Kim, described him as a popular former athlete who played football, basketball, and baseball. Both victims had tattoos linked to white supremacist groups, which the defense argued might suggest other enemies, though prosecutors dismissed this as irrelevant.
On September 16, 2016, during a thunderstorm, Brock and DeWitt entered the salvage yard, likely to steal parts. Prosecutors said Barefield, tired of thefts, ambushed them.
Surveillance footage showed him at the yard for hours, wearing camouflage and carrying a scoped AR-15 rifle. He allegedly shot both men, placed their bodies in a Chevrolet Impala, and crushed the car in the yard’s compactor.
The bodies were found four days later on September 20, after Brock’s family spotted blood on cars and alerted police.
The state’s case relied on circumstantial evidence: footage of Barefield with the rifle and a shell casing linked to his weapon, though not definitively to a bullet in Brock’s body.
No DNA tied him to the killings, and forensic tests on gloves in the car were inconclusive. Barefield admitted crushing the Impala but said he didn’t know the bodies were inside, claiming he was checking storm-damaged gravel.
His defense argued he fired one shot in self-defense, believing he was in danger, and suggested others, possibly tied to the victims’ tattoos, could have committed the murders.
The trial took place in October and November 2017 at the Pope County Courthouse. Over 90 people attended closing arguments, with extra security present. The eight-day trial included testimony from Brock’s family, who described finding the bodies, and graphic crime scene photos.
A state firearms expert, Kelsey Ellison, testified about the shell casing and a damaged bullet.
After nearly five hours of deliberation, the jury found Barefield guilty of two counts of capital murder on November 1, 2017. On November 2, Judge William Pearson sentenced him to life without parole for each count, plus 15 years for firearm enhancements, to run concurrently.
Barefield, free on $850,000 bond before the verdict, was taken into custody. His attorney, Patrick Benca, appealed, arguing the court wrongly excluded evidence of other suspects and mishandled ballistic testimony.
In 2019, the Arkansas Supreme Court upheld the conviction 6-1, rejecting claims about excluded evidence. Justice Josephine Linker Hart dissented, saying Barefield’s defense was unfairly limited. In 2020,
Barefield sought postconviction relief, alleging Benca failed to challenge ballistic evidence properly. At a 2021 hearing, a defense firearms expert called the state’s ballistic analysis unreliable.
Pope County Circuit Court denied the petition in 2023, and the Arkansas Supreme Court affirmed in 2024, ruling Benca’s decisions were strategic.
As of April 30, 2025, Barefield, 44, is at Varner Supermax, He serves life without parole.
The case remains debated: some see Barefield as a man defending his property, convicted on weak evidence; others view him as a vigilante who killed two young men over theft.
The victims’ families, especially DeWitt’s, expressed deep loss, while Barefield’s excluded evidence and ballistic disputes fuel ongoing questions.
