U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Arkansas
FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas — A California man was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole Monday, April 21, 2025 for Aiding and Abetting the Kidnapping and Murder of a Northwest Arkansas man.
According to court documents, in November of 2021, 46-year-old Daniel Paul Blanks and his co-defendant, Reginald Baker, 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 Nov. 29, 2021, both Blanks and Baker were charged in Washington County Circuit Court with Capital Murder, Kidnapping, and Residential Burglary. On April 5, 2024, Baker pleaded guilty in Washington County 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 Oct. 25, 2024, Blanks entered a guilty plea to Aiding and Abetting Kidnapping Resulting in Death, in federal court.
During the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Court Judge Timothy L. Brooks cited Blanks’ affiliation with white supremacist groups as an aggravating factor supporting the imposition of a life sentence.
Blanks’s case was prosecuted in cooperation with the 4th Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. U.S. Attorney Clay Fowlkes of the Western District of Arkansas made the announcement.
The Springdale Police Department, Barry County Missouri Sheriff’s Office, the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, the Bentonville Police Department, and the Arkansas Office of Probation and Parole all investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Dustin Roberts prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.
Discover more from
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
