Raifsnider sentenced to 60 years
Posted on Friday, July 14, 2006
BENTONVILLE - Larry Raifsnider apologized for his criminal acts in robbing and kidnapping two elderly couples but claimed his compassion for his victims led to his incarceration.
"I am not an animal," Raifsnider said Thursday as he pleaded guilty in connection with the couples' kidnapping. "I didn't mean to harm anyone."
Benton County Sheriff Keith Ferguson previously described Raifsnider as "the scum of the Earth"for preying on elderly people.
Raifsnider, who was once featured on television's "America's Most Wanted," claimed he never intended to prey on people because of their age and said his criminal deeds were random acts. He apologized in a tearful voice for destroying the couples' peace of mind and security.
"I hope you will forgive me," Raifsnider said.
James Noury, Margaret Noury, Lonnie Dart and Mary Dart sat on the front row in the courtroom as they observed the proceedings.
It was a much different encounter than their last with Raifsnider.
The Nourys, of Eureka Springs, encountered Raifsnider, 41, and his accomplice, Christopher Lee Bishop, 23, on Oct. 20, 2003, when the Nourys traveled to a flea market off U. S. Highway 62 to meet a man who was interested in buying their travel trailer. Instead, the two were held at gunpoint and were forced into a chair, and their hands were tied and tape was placed over their eyes. The men demanded money from the couple and threatened to harm their family members if the Nourys did not get the money, according to court documents.
Raifsnider and Bishop determined that they could not get any money and placed the Nourys in a small room in the flea market. Raifsnider and Bishop threatened to kill the couple if they came out of the room before 10 minutes had passed. Then the two men fled the scene. The Nourys left the flea market and contacted authorities.
The Darts had a much different encounter with Raifsnider. Authorities believe Raifsnider acted alone in the crime, and he may have even pretended that a second person was assisting him. The Darts were awakened in the middle of the night on Dec. 5, 2003, by an intruder - Raifsnider - in their home. Raifsnider bound the couple and informed them that they were being robbed, according to Benton County Prosecuting Attorney Robin Green. Mary Dart was taken from her residence by Raifsnider and left bound in a car on the back of the Darts'property. Her husband was contacted and instructed by Raifsnider to travel to his banks and withdraw money or Mary Dart would be killed.
According to Green, Lonnie Dart withdrew $ 90, 000 from his banks and left the money as Raifsnider directed, and after Raifsnider secured the money, he then told Lonnie Dart of his wife's location.
Raifsnider agreed to a plea agreement reached between the prosecutors and his attorney, Public Defender Scott Parks.
Raifsnider pleaded guilty to two counts of kidnapping, a class B felony; two counts of robbery, a class B felony; two counts of terroristic threatening, a class D felony; residential burglary, a class B felony; theft of property, a class B felony, and being an habitual offender. He was sentenced to 60 years in the Arkansas Department of Correction and must serve each day of the sentence, which will come to an end when he's 101.
James Noury addressed the court on behalf of himself and his wife. He accepted Raifsnider's apology but told Raifsnider the couple would never fix another grilledcheese sandwich for a stranger. Raifsnider had approached the couple about the trailer under a false identity. He came to their home, and Margaret Noury fixed him sandwiches. Raifsnider pretended to be another person when he telephoned the Nourys to arrange the meeting in Benton County.
"We fed you and opened up our home to you," James Noury said as he explained that their encounter had changed the way the couple treat strangers.
"Don't let my acts and what I did change your ways," Raifsnider said to Noury. "You are a good man, and your wife is a good woman."
Lonnie Dart was not ready to forgive. His wife suffered a stroke 10 days after their encounter with Raifsnider, and Lonnie Dart believes Raifsnider is responsible.
Dart said Raifsnider bound Mary Dart and covered her with two coats, then placed her in a running car with the heat turned on as high as possible. Mary Dart could have died in the car, but she was able to let down one of the windows in the car.
Raifsnider claimed he was only being helpful and protecting the woman from freezing temperatures by placing the coats on her.
Lonnie Dart wasn't convinced Raifsnider's claims of kindness. "I can't understand how anybody could be that cruel," Lonnie Dart said as he told Raifsnider he hoped he never got another chance to harm anyone else.
Raifsnider again apologized and again claimed he put the coats on Mary Dart to make sure she stayed warm.
"I'm not sorry for being compassionate," Raifsnider said. "I committed a crime for monetary purposes. It wasn't to commit harm."
Raifsnider then claimed that his arrest in November 2004 in Bartlesville, Okla., was because of his compassion. He said he returned to give another of his kidnapping victims a coat. He was previously sentenced to 30 years in federal prison in that case.
Green interrupted Raifsnider as he talked about being a compassionate individual.
"I held my tongue, but this is not a compassionate individual," the prosecutor said. "He harmed them physically and mentally."
Raifsnider will be returned to federal prison, but after he serves that sentence he will be confined in an Arkansas prison. He was ordered to pay $ 750 in court-associates fees, along with $ 90, 000 in victim restitution.
Bishop also pleaded guilty to robbery under a plea agreement that prosecutors reached with Bishop's attorney, Paul Reynolds. Bishop was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He must pay $ 1, 250 in court-associated costs.
Deputy Prosecutor Clay Fowlkes said Raifsnider planned the crime and contacted his nephew Bishop for his assistance.
Bishop apologized to the Nourys for his role in the crime against them. James Noury urged Bishop to change his life and come out a better person after he's released from prison.
"You are a fine-looking young man," James Noury said. "For Lord's sake, change your ways."
Green commended the work of the Benton County Sheriff's Office in putting the clues together to identify Raifsnider as the suspect in the crimes.
Neither Green nor Fowlkes was convinced that Raifsnider was apologetic about his actions.
The prosecutors said Raifsnider told investigators he picked elderly victims because they could not fight back, and he described his older victims as marks.
"It's a good day for law and order in Benton County," Green said. "(Raifsnider ) will not be at large to harass or harm citizens in Benton County or elsewhere."
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