Wife: Man killed in Iowa City cared about tenants

IOWA CITY - The widow of the man killed in Iowa City Thursday wants everyone to know he was a caring landlord.

John E. Versypt, a 64-year-old retiree from Cordova, Ill., was shot and killed in Broadway Condominiums, where he owned three units that he rented out.

Janet Versypt said her husband was in town to install "no loitering" and "no smoking" signs in the common areas of the building.

"He was a very caring man, a very good landlord," she said. "He took care of the people who lived in his places very well. He treated them nicely."

The condo complex is on the southeast side of Iowa City in a neighborhood that increasingly is seen as a being a troubled area. It was problems with juvenile violence that led for calls for a juvenile curfew there this summer.

The issues are not limited just to youth, however.

"It's become a very bad neighborhood," Janet Versypt said. "It's gotten worse."

A neighborhood coalition, Safe Neighborhoods Iowa City, has formed to address safety concerns. About 20 members gathered Friday to tell the news media that they were angered by Versypt's killing and would be meeting with neighbors and developing a plan to end the violence.

“The residents of this neighborhood will not stand for this type of ruthless violence,” Angie Blanchard-Manning said.

Another coalition member, Wesley Carter, 23, lives in the building next to where Versypt was shot. He said a lot of people who shouldn't be there hang out in the buildings and the signs Versypt was reportedly hanging are needed.

“Everything that has happened so far, it happened to somebody or by somebody who doesn't live there,” he said