True Crime Chronicles: Stabbing death of estranged wife sent convicted felon to Death Row after 2005 trial

On the morning of January 21, 2005, the busy intersection of Greenwood and Rogers avenues in Fort Smith transformed from a routine commuter hub into the scene of a chilling crime that would reverberate through the community. Thomas Leo Springs, a 43-year-old Black male committed a brutal act of violence that led to his conviction for capital murder.

62 and one of 24 inmates on Arkansas’s death row, Springs remains incarcerated at the Varner Supermax facility in Gould, Arkansas.

The victim, Christina Springs, 41, was Thomas’s estranged wife. That morning, she was a passenger in a white Honda driven by her sister, Kelly Repking, with Repking’s three-year-old daughter, Paige Garner, in the backseat.

The group had just left Sutton School, where they had discussed concerns about Thomas Springs’s threatening behavior with a police officer. Unaware that Springs was trailing them, they approached the intersection of Greenwood and Rogers avenues around 9:00 a.m., as early-morning traffic buzzed with people heading to work.

In a calculated act, Springs rammed his vehicle head-on into the Honda, halting it in the middle of the intersection. Witnesses recounted a horrifying scene as Springs exited his car, smashed the passenger-side window, and launched a vicious attack on Christina.

He repeatedly slammed her face into the dashboard before retrieving a knife from his vehicle and stabbing her multiple times. The assault, carried out in broad daylight, was so public that authorities struggled to identify all witnesses due to the volume of onlookers.

Repking, trapped in the driver’s seat, later testified about the terror of watching her sister’s life slip away, calling out her love for Christina amidst the chaos.

young was left deeply traumatized, waking up screaming for weeks afterward.

Springs was arrested and charged with capital murder and two counts of aggravated assault for endangering Repking and her daughter. His trial in Sebastian County Circuit Court revealed a history of violence, including prior convictions for second-degree battery and fleeing in 1987, for which he served two years each.

November 14, 2005, a jury convicted Springs of capital murder after just 70 minutes of deliberation. The following day, they sentenced him to death by lethal injection, along with two consecutive 72-month sentences and $20,000 in fines for the aggravated assault charges.

During the penalty phase, Christina’s family shared the profound toll of her loss. Repking spoke of the enduring pain and her daughter’s lingering trauma, while Eagle recounted the devastating call from her sister. Despite defense claims that Springs acted impulsively under emotional distress, the jury’s decision was unanimous.

Springs, whose initial receipt date at the Arkansas Department of Corrections was November 18, 2005, has been classified as SK custody with a good time class of I-C.

His record at Varner Supermax reflects multiple disciplinary violations, including failure to obey orders, threats to inflict injury, destruction of property, insolence to staff, and refusing direct verbal orders, with incidents recorded between August and October 2020.

This behavior aligns with a pattern of defiance noted in his prior incarcerations, marking his third stint with the Division of Correction.

Springs has exhausted several appeals, including challenges to his counsel’s effectiveness and the constitutionality of the death penalty, all denied by the Arkansas Supreme Court, most recently in 2012.

The tragedy at Greenwood and Rogers avenues remains a somber chapter in Fort Smith’s history, a stark reminder of a life senselessly lost and a community forever altered.