Murder suspect returned to face charge

INDEPENDENCE COUNTY, Ark.  – A man who turned himself in to Missouri police is now back in Independence County to face a murder charge.

According to the Independence County Sheriff’s Office inmate roster, Cody Weathers, 28, of Batesville was booked into the detention center Monday, Feb. 1, at 6:52 p.m. on a $750,000 bond.

According to a probable cause affidavit released Jan. 27, Independence County deputies got a 911 call around 4:30 p.m. Jan. 25 about Weathers reportedly having homicidal and suicidal thoughts.

Weathers reportedly left his home on Rounds Road in a 2016 pickup truck, with a caller telling authorities they saw a large amount of firearms, handwritten notes in the house and a dead dog upstairs.

Deputies found Adam Lowry, 30, of Batesville dead under a sleeping bag at the house. From there, deputies got a search warrant. Lowry was shot in the head with a shotgun, deputies said in the affidavit.

On Tuesday, Springfield, Mo. police called Independence County deputies after getting a report about Weathers being seen in the area at a local library.

A person who was at the library spoke with Springfield police, according to the affidavit.

“The citizen said he speaks with various people about the Bible and decided to walk over and asked Cody if he could speak with him. After Cody agreed, the citizen sat next (to) him. The citizen said Cody seemed paranoid and advised he was God and that he had been time traveling,” the affidavit noted. “Cody also said he had shot Adam.”

The citizen offered to take Weathers to a local restaurant to get him some food and tried to help him get a place to stay. Weathers reportedly told the citizen again that he had killed Lowry and that he could call a family member of his in Arkansas about it.

The citizen did and later noticed police cars in a nearby parking lot.

The officers had discovered a vehicle that Weathers reportedly stole and later took him into custody on the theft of a vehicle, the affidavit noted.

Police later interviewed Weathers about the murder.

He reportedly admitted killing Lowry and remembered grabbing a firearm and pointing it at Lowry.

“Cody advised that he then seen Adam’s dog, Bo, looking back and forth at him and Adam. Cody said he could not let the dog not be without his best friend, so he shot the dog,” the affidavit from police noted.

The body will be examined by the state medical examiner, who will determine the “manner and cause of death.”

According to a Tuesday news release, the Independence County Sheriff’s Office was “actively searching” for Weathers.

At that time, Sheriff Shawn Stephens said he was wanted in relation to a ‘suspicious death” between Moorefield and Sulphur Rock.

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission also assisted in the search for Weathers.