Melissa Nicole Malmsteadt
The couple accused of killing Carson City resident Paul Adam Mulkey, 43, in August 2023 could face the death penalty.
On Tuesday, East Fork Justice of the Peace Paul Gilbert said he would appoint two attorneys for Melissa Nicole Malmsteadt, 42, after attorney Max Stovall said the case could be eligible for the death penalty.
Malmsteadt’s boyfriend, Larry Allen Arnold, 48, is in custody in North Dakota on an arrest warrant that charges both of them with first-degree murder with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit murder.
Malmsteadt was ordered held in Douglas County Jail without bail and to return to court on Jan. 22.
Investigators filed a 111-page report detailing their work to identify Malmsteadt and Arnold in the shooting that occurred Aug. 12-13.
Mulkey was found Aug. 14 on the dirt portion of Stephanie Way, after a passer-by noticed that his Toyota Matrix hadn’t moved in 24 hours. He was in the drivers seat and appeared to have been shot twice by someone standing far enough away not to leave gun shot residue.
Investigators believe that Arnold and Malmsteadt, who is also known as Clack, were in a relationship during which she connected with Mulkey.
According to court documents reviewed by The Record-Courier, Mulkey's friends told investigators he'd said he’d been in an argument with Arnold over the relationship.
Mulkey and Malmsteadt drove to the scene of his murder where Arnold was allegedly waiting for them.
Cigarette butts found at the scene reportedly have Malmsteadt’s DNA.
Investigators also obtained texts and emails between Malmsteadt and Arnold that appear to show the couple preparing for the shooting that occurred around 2:15 a.m. Aug. 13, 2023.
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Two people were arrested Monday in connection with the murder of a Carson City man, whose body was found Aug. 14, 2023, at the end of Stephanie Way.
Melissa Nicole Malmstedt, 42, of Johnson Lane and Larry Allen Arnold, 48, of Carson City were taken into custody on Monday in connection with the death of Paul Adam Mulkey, 43. An autopsy determined that Mulkey was the victim of a homicide.
Arrest warrants were issued on Dec. 20 in the case and investigators have been preparing for the arrests for the last 10 days.
Malmstedt was arrested at her home by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office and booked into Minden Jail on a no bail warrant.
Arnold was arrested in Towner, N.D., and booked into the Heart of America Correctional & Treatment Center on a no bail warrant from the East Fork Justice Court. Both are charged with first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
Sheriff Dan Coverley said back in January that the Sheriff’s Office didn’t issue a release upon discovering Mulkey’s body due to the nature of the investigation.
“There is not, nor was there a threat to the community and all people involved have been identified early on in the investigation,” he said in a Jan. 24 email.
As of press time, no court date has been set for Malmstedt, who also goes by the last name Clack, according to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.
Arnold will face extradition proceedings in North Dakota seeking his return to Nevada.
Should he choose to fight extradition, it could be more than a month before he returns to Minden to appear in court.
The announcement of the arrests comes just two weeks after investigators responded to an alleged murder-suicide attempt that occurred at an address on Dennis Street in Johnson Lane.
Gregory Raymond Ward, 63, remains in custody in Renown Regional Medical Center facing open murder and murder with a deadly weapon in connection with the Dec. 16 shooting of Kathy Jean Weiland, 63.
Ward is recovering from what Sheriff’s investigators believe is a self-inflicted injury.
Ward is represented by Reno attorney Theresa Ristenpart.
The Ward case was the second murder-suicide investigated by Douglas County this year.
Carson City resident Laura Aceves-Ramirez, 53, and Zephyr Cove resident Saloman Hernandez, 57, were found dead 4:30 p.m. Sept. 15 along Highway 50 in Glenbrook, according to investigators.
The two cases were the only homicides reported by The Record-Courier during 2024.