FAYETTEVILLE – A California man was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for aiding and abetting the kidnapping and murder of a Northwest Arkansas man. The Honorable Judge Timothy L. Brooks presided over the sentencing hearing, which was held in the U.S. District Court in Fayetteville.
According to court documents, in November of 2021, the defendant, Daniel Paul Blanks, age 46, and his co-defendant, Reginald Baker, age 37, drove to the Springdale apartment of a Northwest Arkansas resident. Per witnesses, the men, armed with a shotgun, forcefully entered the apartment, assaulted and beat the resident, and then dragged his unconscious body down the exterior staircase of the apartment complex and placed him in the back of Blanks’ truck bed. Blanks and Baker then transported the victim from Arkansas to the Mark Twain National Park, located in Barry County Missouri, where Blanks shot the victim numerous times. The victim’s body lay undiscovered for several days until a hunter located him in a heavily wooded logging road.
On November 29, 2021, both Blanks and Baker were charged in the Circuit Court of Washington County, with Capital Murder, Kidnapping, and Residential Burglary. On April 5, 2024, Baker pleaded guilty in Washington County Arkansas Circuit Court to Accomplice to Murder in the 1st Degree, Accomplice to Kidnapping, and Accomplice to Residential Burglary. He was sentenced to a total of 60 years imprisonment. On October 25, 2024, Blanks entered a guilty plea to Aiding and Abetting Kidnapping Resulting in Death, in federal court.
During the sentencing hearing, the Honorable Judge Timothy L. Brooks cited Blanks’ affiliation with white supremacist groups as an aggravating factor supporting the imposition of a life sentence.
