Woman involved in shooting death enters guilty plea

A woman charged along with her husband for being involved in a shooting incident in January last year in which a 32-year-old male was killed appeared in Baxter County Circuit Court/Criminal Division Monday (June 8).
Forty-one-year-old Crystal Marie Whitsel entered a guilty plea to charges of terroristic threatening, aggravated assault and 3rd degree battery and was sentenced to six years in prison with four suspended and two to serve.

The victim was identified as Ian Lapio. His wife told the court during a victim impact statement on Monday that while Crystal Whitsel “did not pull the trigger, the lie you told your husband about Ian attacking you is what caused it all to happen.”

She said her young son now has no father and that he had to comfort his mother when the shooting occurred … “something a young child should never have to do.”

Circuit Judge Andrew Bailey asked the woman if the sentence contained in the plea was satisfactory to her. She said she was “not for it” as it did not seem to be long enough.

THE SHOOTING

The shooting took place January 20 last year along Mountain Loop in Gassville. According to the probable cause affidavit, the incident began when Crystal Whitsel went to a neighbor’s house where she said she encountered Ian Lapio.

Crystal Whitsel said that Lapio, who was visiting a friend in the neighborhood, was “growling” at the dog she had with her. She told investigators she had argued with Lapio and warned him the dog might bite.

The argument continued and Whitsel said she struck Lapio with her hand and Lapio pushed her down.

Whitsel said she returned to her residence, got a firearm, loaded it and went outside and threatened to shoot Lapio if he came onto her property.

The probable cause affidavit notes that witnesses said Lapio did not go onto the Whitsel’s property at any time during the confrontations.

Witnesses also told investigators that Lapio had not pushed Crystal Whitsel down, but reported she tripped while trying to strike Lapio.

Her husband, 59-year-old Danny Whitsel, got into an argument with Lapio over the confrontation with his wife. As the argument continued Danny Whitsel “brandished his pistol” and struck Lapio in the face with the weapon.

Whitsel claimed that Lapio had approached him in “an aggressive manner acting as if he wanted to fight” and Whitsel claimed he shot in self-defense.
Witnesses who told investigators they had seen the entire confrontation contradicted Whitsel’s story. They said Whitsel had confronted Lapio, hit him in the face with the pistol and then shot him — all in quick succession.

Lapio is reported to have fallen to the ground and Whitsel is said to have moved closer to the victim and fired multiple rounds at Lapio while he was down on the ground.

Investigators reported collecting six 9-millimeter shell casings in the area.

Gassville police received assistance from the Arkansas State Police in investigating the shooting.

In the concluding paragraph of the probable cause affidavit, the investigators wrote that Lapio “was lawfully in the area visiting a friend” and that Danny Whitsel confronted him. The report says Lapio never struck Danny Whitsel.

Lapio was taken to Baxter Health where he succumbed to his injuries.

Danny Paul Whitsel is charged with first degree murder, a Class Y felony. His bond is set at $250,000. He remains an inmate in the Baxter County Detention Center.

WebReady^TM Powered by WireReady^® NSI