John Aldrich murder of Nancy Harville

John Aldrich admitted killing his stepsister, Nancy Harvill, after she endured days of restraint and torture inside a family home in Fordyce, Arkansas, in August 2011, then helped bury her body beneath the dirt floor of a shed.

Harvill, 34, disappeared in October 2011. Family members believed she had left town, and no missing-person report was filed. Investigators later said the belief that she had “run off” allowed her disappearance to go unreported for more than a year.

Authorities discovered Harvill’s remains in January 2013 after a family member came forward with information about where she might be buried. Deputies found her body beneath the dirt floor of a shed attached to the home. Investigators said the remains had been buried for more than a year.

According to the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office, the killing began on or about Friday, August 26, 2011, when Harvill and Aldrich argued over the care and treatment of Harvill’s minor children. Investigators said Sherri Bowen, Harvill’s stepmother, instructed Aldrich and Christopher Aldrich, Harvill’s stepbrother, to restrain her.

Torture over days

Investigators said Aldrich and Christopher Aldrich bound Harvill’s hands behind her back and tied her feet together in a hog-tie position. Over the next 48 hours, all three suspects repeatedly beat and tortured Harvill.

Authorities said they struck her with hands, broomsticks, baseball bats, cast-iron pans, and furniture, kicked her, poured hot candle wax on her, and shot her with a spring-loaded airsoft gun. Investigators said Bowen instructed other family members to punch and kick Harvill while she remained bound on the floor.

During that period, Harvill was not allowed to eat, drink, or use the restroom. Investigators said the suspects moved her between the laundry room and living area for repeated episodes of abuse.

On Sunday, August 28, 2011, between 10:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., Harvill died from the injuries she sustained. After her death, investigators said the suspects laid her body out in the laundry room, straightened her limbs, and retied her restraints.

Burial of the victim’s body

Aldrich and Christopher Aldrich then dragged her body through the house and out a back door into a shop-like structure attached to the residence.

Authorities said the two men used a borrowed tiller and two shovels to excavate the ground. They wrapped Harvill’s body in plastic, contorted it to fit the grave, and buried it beneath the shed floor.

Afterward, investigators said Aldrich, Christopher Aldrich, and Bowen met inside the home and created a cover story claiming Harvill had left the state with an unknown person. Authorities said the three maintained that story for approximately 15 months. During that time, investigators said financial, medical, and personal records were falsified using Harvill’s identity in an effort to conceal her death.

Investigators arrested Aldrich in January 2013. Bowen and Christopher Aldrich were arrested shortly afterward. All three initially faced capital murder and multiple additional charges, including kidnapping, first-degree domestic battering, hindering apprehension or prosecution, and abuse of a corpse. Bowen also faced charges of financial identity fraud and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Harvill’s two sons, ages 10 and 7, were placed into Department of Human Services custody after the discovery of her body.

Aldrich later pleaded guilty to first-degree murder. The court sentenced him to 40 years in prison. He entered the Arkansas prison system on November 15, 2013, and is currently housed at the Grimes Unit in Newport.

Aldrich, 38, has an earliest projected release date of January 7, 2041.