The man known as the “Devil in the Ozarks” will spend additional time behind bars after pleading guilty to escape. Grant Hardin entered a guilty plea Tuesday in Izard County Circuit Court to second-degree escape. According to Izard County Sheriff Charley Melton, the judge sentenced Hardin to 13 years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections. The sentence will run consecutively to the 80-year prison term he is currently serving for rape and murder. Hardin walked away from the North Central Unit in Calico Rock in May 2025. After a two-week manhunt, Arkansas law enforcement officers along with U.S. Border Patrol agents located him near Moccasin Creek in Izard County, just over a mile from the prison. Hardin is currently being held at the Varner SuperMax Unit in Gould. The former Gateway police chief was the focus of the television documentary “Devil in the Ozarks,” which detailed his convictions for the rape of a Rogers teacher and the murder of James Appleton.
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