On July 3, 2015, Richard Tarver broke into the residence of 90-year-old Lavinda Counce. The Arkansas man forcefully removed the elderly woman from her home, and placed her into the trunk of his car. After driving around for an unspecified amount of time, the man pulled over near a cornfield and concluded his macabre plan. Police say that Tarver removed the elderly woman from the trunk of his car, and walked her out among the stalks of corn. It was there that he used a .38-caliber handgun to shoot her in the back of the head.
The 31-year-old man left the 90-year-old woman's body where she was murdered, and then abandoned her vehicle at a hospital in the area. He walked from the hospital to a friend's home, and had them give him a ride home -- under the false story that he had been in the area visiting someone at the hospital. It didn't take long for authorities to track the man down and charge him with the murder of the elderly woman, especially since he was so sloppy as to leave a bag of items at the home of Lavinda Counce. His friend that had given him a ride home on the night of her murder positively identified the bag as belonging to the Arkansas man. The bag reportedly contained items that were part of a sort of post-apocalyptic cosplay. Richard Jorda Tarver identified the items, declaring that he was going to dress up as a "survivor."
"It was part of what I was dressing up as -- as a survivor. Like in the movies...When the world ends."
The Arkansas man ultimately admitted to shooting Counce, and cited his motive was so he could prepare for a potential zombie epidemic. He told detectives that he needed to practice shooting zombies, "to learn what it felt like." He chose the 90-year-old woman for the most sickening reason: Because she was "the closest thing" to a zombie that he could find. He also admitted to stealing $50.00 from the slain elderly woman, which he used to fund his nine-year-old daughter's birthday party.
Richard Tarver has been sentenced to three life terms of imprisonment, plus 22 years. Ironically, he's in the worst place a person could be in the event of a zombie apocalypse. He should know this, since he admitted to binge-watching The Walking Dead shortly before killing Lavinda Counce.