Murder In The Media: Questions Remain After A News Anchor’s Death

Anne Pressley, 26, was gorgeous, intelligent, and a rising star as a local television news anchor in Little Rock, Arkansas. But her promising life was cut short just over a month ago, when she was found in her home on October 20th beaten beyond recognition. Never regaining consciousness from her attack, she died five days later from complications of her injuries.

While her story gained worldwide attention, the world wondered: who could have wanted to kill such a kind-hearted, hard-working young woman?

Over a month passed since Pressly’s death, and the police had not named any suspects nor possible motives for the murder, only stating that they believed it was a robbery gone bad. But on November 26th, police in Little Rock arrested 28-year-old Curtis Lavelle Vance for the beating death of Anne Pressly. They did not disclose what led them to arresting Vance, only stating police would have to remain “very tightlipped” before trial.

Then Pressly’s parents, Patti and Guy Cannady emerged on television with riveting new details about the case. Yesterday they appeared on The Today Show stating that there was evidence of their daughter being sexually assaulted during the beating, and furthermore that she broke her hand trying to fight off her attacker. They shared gruesome details about Pressly’s physical condition, including that “every bone in her face was broken,” and immediately condemned Vance as her killer. Mrs. Cannady said that Vance is a “monster [who] stole my daughter’s innocence. He took her life,” while Mr. Cannady added, “I think he could have been a stalker.”

With such a sudden surge in developments in Pressly’s case, many questions arise not only regarding the events themselves, but the media surrounding them. What led the Little Rock police to the arrest of Curtis Vance? Could Pressly’s murder really have been a robbery-gone-awry, or was Vance a crazed stalker? And, perhaps most alarmingly, why are the police keeping so mum about the case while Anne’s family is revealing so much? Doesn’t this present a conflict of interest?

Some specifc details about the case are cause for suspicion. Little Rock police confirm that Vance is also being charged in the rape of an Arkansas schoolteacher last April. If it is true that Pressly was also raped, it seems unlikely that her death was merely the result of a random robbery, particularly if Vance has a history of sexual assault. And Pressly’s mother revealed on The Today Show that she drove to her daughter’s home at 4:30 am October 20th immediately after Anne did not respond to her morning wake-up call. While it may seem circumstantial, why would Mrs. Cannady immediately suspect something had gone wrong and drive over to her daughter’s home so early in the morning if she didn’t respond to a phone call? Maybe she was still sleeping?

Was there any reason for her to believe Anne would be incapacitated?

We may never get the answers we want regarding this case, but one thing is for sure: when there’s a murder in the media, it becomes much more difficult for the media to address the murder.