2nd Zachary Wood murder suspect gets lower bond

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - The bond for another one of the four suspects accused of Zachary Wood’s murder was lowered on Friday.

READ: Family, friends remember Zachary Wood

30th District Court Judge Jeff McKnight lowered William Bell’s bond from $1 million to $200,000, according to court documents. McKnight also lowered 21-year-old Ashley Esselborn’s bond from $1 million to $100,000 on Monday.

Esselborn, Bell, Payton Collier and Ronnie Lang were all arrested and charged in connection with the murder of Wood in May of 2022.

The Wichita Falls Police Department said Wood was living on Brown St. with Collier and two other roommates at the time of his death. Wood’s body was found on May 21 at around noon, when police responded to a check welfare call and found a “ransacked” house with “evidence of a massive bloodletting event that occurred, in multiple rooms,” according to an affidavit.

Esselborn and Bell remain jailed in Wichita County as of Friday. If either one bonds out, they would be required to remain in Wichita County at specific addresses. They would also be on a 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew and have to wear a GPS monitor at all times, while also not having any contact with codefendants nor witnesses related to this case.

The bonds for Lang and Collier both remain at $1 million as of Friday.