By Jim Hannah
Enquirer staff reporter

RICHWOOD - Detectives arrested a Northern Kentucky man Tuesday who was wanted in the case of a woman nearly beaten to death at a motel here this past weekend.

Rodney Beckham, 36, of Carrollton was arraigned shortly after his arrest on a charge of attempted murder. He remained in the Boone County jail Tuesday in lieu of a $250,000 cash bond. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Thursday.

His alleged victim, 27-year-old Stacy Beals, remained in critical condition Tuesday afternoon at University Hospital in Cincinnati. Boone County sheriff's deputies said Beals lives in Carrollton - but property tax records show she owns a home in eastern Louisville, and her parents live in Carrollton.

Tom Scheben, spokesman for the sheriff's department, said detectives made an arrest after determining that Beals had been in the company of Beckham, an acquaintance. Scheben said Beals was beaten with a sharp, heavy object but that detectives had not yet figured out what the object was or recovered the item.

"The case is still under investigation, so we are guarded as to certain specifics of the crime," Scheben said. Police have not speculated on a motive.

Scheben said that the pair went to the motel together in Beals' car, and that Beckham drove the car to his hometown of Carrollton after allegedly committing the crime.

The housekeeping staff at the Richwood Econo Lodge discovered Beals badly beaten in a room early Sunday afternoon. The motel is adjacent to Interstate 71/75.

Scheben said the department's criminal investigation division worked with the Kentucky State Police, Carroll County Sheriff's Department, Carrollton police and Kentucky Probation and Parole to arrest Beckham in Carrollton just after midnight.

E-mail jhannah@enquirer.com