In 2017, Mr. Hardin was arrested and charged with shooting James Appleton just outside Gateway, where Mr. Appleton worked in the water department. According to the police affidavit, Mr. Appleton was pulled over in a pickup truck while he was on the phone with his brother-in-law, then was shot in the head at point-blank range with a shotgun. Witnesses identified the shooter as Mr. Hardin, who was arrested and pleaded guilty not long after, but did not offer a motive. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
A former police chief convicted of rape and first-degree murder escaped from Arkansas's North Central Unit Sunday afternoon, with the Department of Corrections determining hours later that Grant Hardin was "wearing a makeshift outfit designed to mimic law enforcement when he escaped.
Hardin had served as police chief in Gateway - a town of fewer than 500 people - for four months in 2016 and served two terms as a constable in Benton County.
