An Arkansas man who attempted to blame poor wiring for the fire that killed his wife will spend the next several decades in prison after pleading guilty to murder.
Bruce Lee Cockrell, 48, received a 75-year jail sentence on Thursday after pleading guilty to murder and arson in the death of his wife, Tonya Marie Liggin-Cockrell, 35, in 2024. According to court documents reviewed by Law&Crime, Cockrell drenched his wife with “weed eater gas” following an argument on the night of July 8, 2024. When first responders arrived, Cockrell first told officers that the fire was caused by defective “electrical work.”
However, Liggin-Cockrell, who had fled the burning house, was able to tell investigators what had actually occurred.
When first responders arrived at the Cockrells’ home, Liggin-Cockrell was still alive and talking, despite having burns on “what appeared to be 100 percent of her body.” Cockrell even assisted paramedics in loading his wife onto a backboard before she was transported by ambulance to a hospital in Texarkana, Texas. A Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office deputy saw that Cockrell had no burns or injuries, despite his claim that he and his wife were both in bed when the fire started.
Cockrell informed the deputy that the fire was likely caused by “possibly illegal” electrical work undertaken by the previous owner of the residence. Then police discovered a gallon of weed eater gas in the home’s kitchen. When asked what the jug was doing inside the house, Cockrell replied that “he had been working on a weed eater inside the residence.”
After Liggin-Cockrell was taken to the hospital, the nurse who treated her phoned law enforcement to report what her patient had told her: Cockrell “poured weed eater gas on her and set her on fire.” Cockrell, who remained on the scene with police, was detained and charged with domestic violence. He denied lighting his wife on fire and continued to claim that the fire was electrical.
According to the charge nurse at Christus St. Michael Hospital, Liggin-Cockrell continuously exclaimed, “He set me on fire, he set me on fire” while being treated in the emergency room. She reportedly informed the nurse that Cockrell “was hitting and punching me, telling me how ugly I was, and then he poured gasoline on me and set me on fire.”
Cockrell appears to have come clean the next day, while in detention. When asked by authorities to recount the events of the night before, Cockrell stated that he and his wife had gotten a bottle of alcohol and began bickering. The couple discussed their two children, Cockrell’s unemployment, their financial predicament, and previous relationships.
Cockrell claimed he fetched the gallon of weed eater gas from the kitchen, and when Liggin-Cockrell saw it, he exclaimed, “You ain’t gonna pour that on me.” He then continued to douse her with gas while she sat on the edge of the bed. Cockrell informed officers that Liggin-Cockrell grabbed a cigarette and warned her, “Don’t light that cigarette.”
According to Cockrell, his wife answered with “F— you.” “I’m going to light this cigarette because I don’t want to deal with this s— anymore. She then allegedly lighted the cigarette, which erupted into flames, and rushed passed him out the front door.
Liggin-Cockrell was moved to the burn unit at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. She died from her injuries on July 9, 2024.
According to police, toward the end of the interrogation, he remarked, “How’d she stay alive so long?”
Cockrell was charged with both capital murder and arson. After pleading guilty, the judge sentenced him to 45 years for murder and 30 years for arson, to be served consecutively for a total of 75 years.
