Trial date set in North Texas case of woman stabbed and set on fire; suspect bonds out
The man charged with stabbing a woman 18 times and setting her on fire in Lake Bridgeport bonded out of jail Saturday, and a trial date was set in the case.
On July 5, 32-year-old Lauren Whitener was fatally stabbed and set on fire while lying on her bed in her Lake Bridgeport home.
Two months later, Whitener’s neighbor, Rodney (Aric) Maxwell, was arrested and charged with her murder.
On Feb. 4, Maxwell’s lawyer, Barry Green, filed a motion for Maxwell’s $855,000 bond to be reduced. On Feb. 20, a judge reduced the bond to $250,000. On Saturday, Maxwell posted bail and was released from jail.
A trial date has been scheduled for Sept. 14.
Julie Johnson, Whitener’s mother, said Maxwell’s release from jail devastated her.
“I want everybody to know what an injustice has been done,” she said.
In his motion to reduce Maxwell’s bond, Green said the Wise County Sheriff’s Department’s case against Maxwell is insufficient and based almost entirely on “a single blade of grass” that had Whitener’s blood on it.
“I’m happy Aric is out of jail, but the next step is to clear his name from the harm caused by the arrest and indictment,” Green said. “I remain perplexed as to how it has come this far.”
Wise County Sheriff Lane Akin said in a previous interview with the Star-Telegram that investigators are confident they have the right man, and are looking forward to making their case against Maxwell in court. Whitener’s family and best friends firmly believe Maxwell killed Whitener.
Whitener had a then-8-year-old son and was a surgical tech at Wise Health System hospital.
“She was living in the best place she had ever lived, had the best friends she had ever had, the best job she could hope for,” Johnson said in a previous interview. “And it was all ripped out from under her.”
Maxwell and his common-law wife, Ashley Hill, had been hanging out with Whitener on July Fourth. According to the sheriff’s department, witnesses said Maxwell and Hill got into a fight and Whitener intervened.
A neighbor later told detectives the three had previously had a threesome, and Maxwell was jealous of Hill and Whitener’s relationship, according to a search warrant affidavit.
This story was originally published March 1, 2020 at 3:41 PM.
