Grant Hardin
Grant Hardin | |
|---|---|
Mugshots of Hardin released by police after his escape | |
| Born | December 6, 1968 Bentonville, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Other names | "Devil in the Ozarks" |
| Known for | Prison escape, murder |
| Criminal status | Captured: Incarcerated at Varner Unit |
| Convictions | First degree murder Rape |
| Criminal charge | Second degree escape |
| Penalty | 55 years imprisonment |
| Details | |
| Victims | 2 |
Span of crimes | 1997–2017 |
| Country | United States |
| State | Arkansas |
Grant Matthew Hardin, (born December 6, 1968), also known as "Devil in the Ozarks", is an American murderer and rapist convicted in the 2017 shooting death of 59-year-old former Emerson Electric electrician, carpenter, volunteer firefighter, and water department employee James Lee Appleton in Gateway, Arkansas. Hardin served as a former constable, former Walmart dockworker, former law enforcement officer for three Northwest Arkansas police departments, and a former police chief for the town of Gateway, Arkansas. Hardin was sentenced to 30 years in prison for Appleton's murder in 2017.
Two years after his incarceration, his DNA matched to an unsolved 1997 rape of a teacher in Rogers, Arkansas. He was sentenced to 25 years years in prison. On May 25, 2025, he managed to escape the North Central Unit in Calico Rock, Arkansas, by impersonating a corrections officer using a makeshift uniform, being on the run for nearly two weeks, until June 6, 2025, when he was captured while hiding in the woods nearly two miles northwest of the prison. During his escape, the FBI immediately offered a $20,000 reward in connection of the manhunt, with an additional $5,000 from the United States Marshals Service. His crimes were featured in a 2019 episode of the series "Shattered" by Investigation Discovery. Hardin was also a subject of a 2023 HBO Max documentary, titled: "Devil in the Ozarks". Hardin's crime of rape was featured in Cold Justice: Sex Crimes series by Turner Network Television.