Doctor who drugged, kidnapped ex-wife faces murder charges in Arkansas

RENO -- A former Carson City emergency room doctor sentenced for drugging and kidnapping his ex-wife from her Utah home is now facing murder charges in Arkansas in the death of the woman's previous husband and an associate.

Authorities in Conway, Ark., will seek extradition of Richard Conte to face murder charges in the May 2002 deaths of Carter Elliott, 49, and his employee, Timothy Robertson, 25, according to a report by the Reno Gazette-Journal.

It wasn't clear if a court hearing was scheduled.

Conte, 61, is scheduled to be released from a Nevada prison today . He pleaded guilty in Nevada and was sentenced to 15 years for kidnapping Lark Gathright-Elliott at her Salt Lake City home in 2002.

As part of a plea agreement, Conte agreed to forfeit more than 100 weapons and other items, including handguns, rifles, knives, Taser guns, a grenade and grenade launcher, court documents show.

Authorities say he drugged and bound Gathright-Elliott in the back of his pickup and drove to his home in northern Douglas County, where he held her hostage until she was rescued by sheriff's deputies after they were notified by Elliott's relatives in Utah.

Conte and Gathright-Elliott were married in December 2001, but the marriage lasted only a few months.

The kidnapping happened about a month after Carter Elliott and Robertson were killed.