Man pleads guilty to ’81 killing of Iowa couple

WATERLOO - One month after he stunned police by confessing to the brutal 1981 killing of an elderly couple in Iowa, a California man has pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and been sentenced to life in prison.

Jack W. Pursel pleaded guilty Thursday afternoon during a hearing in Black Hawk County Courthouse in Waterloo.

Pursel said he was a born-again Christian who was seeking forgiveness and mercy by taking responsibility for the torture and execution-style shooting deaths of Robert Huntbach, 85, and his wife, Goldie, 77.

Two of the victims' grandchildren who addressed the court without fully identifying themselves declined to offer forgiveness. One said she wished Iowa had the death penalty, while the other said Pursel will end up “in the fire pits of hell.”