Police: Encounter with naked man came before body discovery

HIAWATHA - When Kirk Findley and Deb Roman started dating in August, the couple quickly discovered they were two peas in a pod.

They spent a long weekend together in Galena in September, just weeks after they started dating, Findley said. He kept a list on his computer of all the things they had in common. It was more than 50 items long, he said.

They were so close that, after only a few months of dating, they decided to get engaged, even if a wedding was likely a few years off.

'If it hadn't been for her death, nothing could have torn us apart,” Findley said Monday night.

Roman, 56, was found dead Friday morning inside a mobile home at 213 Sunset Lane. She owned the mobile home, but her son, Joseph Hubbard, 32, lived there.

Less than 30 minutes before Roman's body was discovered, Hiawatha police found Hubbard naked and wandering in the 700 block of North Center Point Road at 8:40 a.m. Friday.

The State Medical Examiner's Office conducted an autopsy on Roman's body, but the cause of her death has not been released. No one has been charged in connection with her death, which authorities have deemed suspicious.

Hubbard is now in custody on charges of second-degree arson, third-degree burglary and assault causing bodily injury relating to incidents in a shed at New Beginnings Church, 910 Boyson Court.

source of strife

Findley described Hubbard as a heavy drinker and a source of strife for Roman.

'Everything was perfect until that son came into town on that plane from Fort Lauderdale,” Findley said.

And, when Findley saw his fiancé for the last time, it was when she left their home in southwest Cedar Rapids on Thursday evening to go see her son.

Findley said he met Roman two years ago when he sold her the mobile home on Sunset Lane. This past August, he was going through papers and came across her email address. The two exchanged emails, and a relationship blossomed.

'She got along well with everybody,” Findley said. 'Real pleasant personality all around.”

Then, about two months ago, Hubbard moved back to the area after losing his job in Florida, Findley said.

'The night we picked him up from the airport, he asked his mother to bring him a bottle of rum,” Findley said. 'He cracked that and started drinking it. ... I'd go out there to the trailer with Debbie, he'd be drunk. I never saw him sober.”

Findley said that with Roman living with him, the plan had been for Hubbard to move into the trailer and assume financial responsibility for it. But Hubbard, he said, never got a job and his mom continued to buy him food and alcohol.

Last Wednesday, Roman spent the day cleaning the trailer, Findley said. At some point, Hubbard became verbally abusive toward his mother and raised his hand toward her but never hit her, Findley said, adding he left work early that day to pick her up there, and Roman told him she never wanted to step foot in the trailer again.

LAST SEEN

But Findley said he came home from work Thursday night and learned Hubbard had been 'harassing” Roman on the phone. Around 8 p.m., Hubbard called his mother, Findley said, and she quickly left.

He doesn't know what they discussed, saying only that Roman 'all of the sudden told me, ‘I've got to get out of here, I've got to see what he's up to.' ”

Findley said she asked to take his dog with her - something she had never done before.

'That was the last time I saw her,” he said.

Findley said he tried to call or text Roman that night, but she never answered.

the aftermath

On Friday morning, a Cedar Rapids police officer came to Findley's home to conduct a welfare check. An Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation agent also came by the home and reviewed all of the text messages Findley had sent, he said.

Findley said he saw on the news Friday that a body had been found in the trailer. He suspected Hubbard had drunk himself to death but didn't learn the truth until Saturday, when Roman's sister texted him.

He had gone to pick up his dog from the pound, where it had been taken when Roman's body was discovered in the mobile home.

According to the Linn County Attorney's Office, Hubbard is accused of breaking into a shed at New Beginnings Church. Police found a pile of clothes on a riding lawn mower inside the shed. The clothes, mower and other items had been soaked with gasoline. Hubbard also allegedly assaulted a man, according to authorities.

New Beginnings Church is a short distance from 213 Sunset Lane.

The death remains under investigation, with the DCI assisting Hiawatha police. Hiawatha Police Chief Dennis Marks said he did not anticipate any additional details being released in the case until the autopsy results are complete.

l Comments: (319) 398-8238; lee.hermiston@thegazette.com