FULTON COUNTY, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — The suspect in a Madison County cold case that confessed to the 1991 murder of a 19-year-old woman has pleaded not guilty.

Rick Headley, 48, is an inmate at Varner Maximum Security Unit. He’s serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to murder for killing his wife in March 2018.

During his arraignment on Nov. 13, Headley pleaded not guilty. He has a pretrial hearing scheduled for Dec. 11 and a jury trial scheduled to begin on March 24, 2024.

Court documents say that the victim, Sabrina Underwood of Huntsville, was dropped off by her mother in Boone County on Jan. 20, 1991. She was planning to hitchhike to visit an inmate at the Arkansas Department of Corrections.

Underwood was reported missing by the Madison County Sheriff’s Office. Her remains were found near the Gum Springs Cemetery in Fulton County on April 8, 1991.

In August 2022, Headley was interviewed by investigators after a fellow inmate told authorities that he had written a confession letter regarding Underwood’s murder.

To read the full story on Headley’s confession and the murder of Sabrina Underwood click here.