Robbery Suspected As Motive In TV Anchor Anne Pressly's Death

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Robbery may have been the motive in the bludgeoning death of a popular television anchor, the police said Friday, adding that the man arrested this week in the case is also wanted in a rape near his hometown.

Lt. Terry L. Hastings, public information officer for the Little Rock Police Department, said it was not known where the man, Curtis L. Vance of Marianna, first spotted the anchor, Anne Pressly, 26; why he chose her as a victim; or what prompted the savage attack.

Ms. Pressly, a regular on the "Daybreak" program of KATV, the ABC television affiliate here, was found beaten and bloody in her bed early on the morning of Oct. 20 by her mother, who had driven to her daughter's house when the younger woman did not answer a wake-up call. Her features distorted by what the police have called blunt force trauma, Ms. Pressly died five days later without regaining consciousness.

Lieutenant Hastings said the police had no reason to think Ms. Pressly had been singled out before the evening her assailant entered her rented cottage-style home in the affluent Pulaski Heights neighborhood.

Read the whole story here.

Comments

[Muirwoods]

This was a hate crime. The savage attack on her face is very telling. Either this guy hated her for some personal reason (strange since he evidently didn't even know her) or someone paid him to do it.
There's probably a lot more information that the police are keeping close to the vest at this point in hopes of nailing a conviction.

[UnstuckInTime]

This is exactly the problem with hate crime laws. When it's a white victim, they are rarely pursued. Additionally, just because someone expresses hate for the victim or even hate for the victim's race, sex, or religion during an assault, that doesn't mean that the crime was necessarily rooted in something other than the violent tendencies of the perpetrator.

[harriettubman]

Where do you live because hate crimes, regardless of race, are pursued where I live? We just had one last year against a white kid. It you do the crime, you do the time. I don't care who you are.

[heal57]

He's barbaric; if this was just a robbery why did he mash up her face and beat her to death? It's terrible that people do these horrific things to innocents.

[UnstuckInTime]

I hate to open the door, but this is simply a case of political correctness. Change to color of attacker and victim and Rev. Jesse Sharpton would be all over this as a hate crime.

[Wolfgang]

True. The authorities will classify this as simply a robbery and murder, not a hate crime. Also the media will very quickly drop this story.

[harriettubman]

How can you come to that assessment when the police haven't released any information? The parents are the ones releasing information, which may hurt their case when it goes to court. Loose lips sink ships and if they want this guy on death row or in prison for life they need to close it. I've seen too many deviants received light sentences because of technicalities and talking to the media may result in change of venue for this fool.

How could it be PC? Please tell me. Chairside detectives do the public no good.

[UnstuckInTime]

Now we have a good candidate for Gitmo. No, that's not right. Abu Ghraib in its worst days for this monster. Then off to a nice Arab country for a good ol' stoning.

[javaz]

Were there signs of forced entry on the woman's rental home?
Did she leave her doors and windows unlocked since she rented a home in an affluent neighborhood?
I've never read or heard how the assailant purportedly entered the home and am curious.

No matter where people live, people should always keep their doors locked.
It's astonishing, really, how many people do not lock their doors or windows at night.

I hope they have the guilty man and that he is prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Such a horrible waste.

[ESerafina42]

Robbery? I dunno. Unless it's a sadist, usually something that vicious, especially with damage to the face, is personal. Although when you're a public figure, "personal" can extend to people you don't know.

Still, it's a tragedy. I hope that whoever did this, they are caught and put away, and my heart goes out to her family. This is going to be a very difficult holiday season for them.

[harriettubman]

This is definitely an ODD case. The blugeoning she received usually falls under crimes of passion. I just hope the cops have the right person. Too many publicized cases result in them picking up any Joe to apease the public.

Same thing with the Hudson family murders in Chicago. I hope they have the right person.

[harriettubman]

I wondered what kind of monster was capable of this atrocity?

[chirps]

Fire up Sparky.

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

Per the parents: "sexually assaulted" and face "pulverized."

http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Dec01/0,4670,TVAnchorAttacked,00.html

Yeah, that's a routine robbery.

So sad.

[ReasonIsMyReligion]

So sad.