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Three killed in Arkansas, including Huckabee relative

THIS STORY APPEARED IN

January 24, 2012

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Three people, including a distant cousin of former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, died in a homicide and kidnapping case in Arkansas, police said yesterday.

Arkadelphia police said Donald Hux shot his former wife, Amy Huckabee, before he was fatally shot by law enforcement officers in the southern part of the state. Amy Huckabee’s husband, Sandy, was found dead Sunday at the couple’s home in Arkadelphia, which is about 70 miles southwest of Little Rock.

Sandy Huckabee’s father was the first cousin of the father of Mike Huckabee, a former governor of Arkansas.

Authorities said Hux, 36, abducted Amy Huckabee and their three children in Arkadelphia and then drove about 80 miles to El Dorado in Union County. He dropped the children off somewhere there, and they were not hurt, according to the local sheriff’s office.

Meanwhile, police in Arkadelphia learned about the situation and went to the Huckabee home to do a welfare check. They found Sandy Huckabee’s body inside and issued a warrant for Hux’s arrest.

An Arkansas State Police spokesman said Hux’s SUV turned up on a rural road outside El Dorado and that there was an exchange of gunfire between local law enforcement and Hux. He said Amy Huckabee was there, but he wouldn’t say how she or Hux died.