North Liberty man and girlfriend admit to killing her stepmom in video

VINTON — A video showing a North Liberty man and his girlfriend saying they’d killed her stepmother was played at the man’s first-degree murder trial this week in Benton County District Court.

The Snapchat video played for the jury Thursday showed Tacoa Talley standing behind his girlfriend, Samantha Bevans, as she records the two of them in a Cedar Rapids motel room July 16, 2022 — two days after the two are accused of suffocating Jodie Bevans in her Palo home by holding a pillow over her face.

In the video, Samantha Bevans says, “I killed her. I killed her myself,” as Talley encourages her to “keep goin’.”

“And I knew this would happen, so good job,” Talley said.

“We killed her,” Samantha said and then makes an obscene gesture to camera.

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The prosecution rested after an Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation special agent testified about the video, cellphone data and motel surveillance footage that helped investigators corroborate statements made by Jayson Wells, who testified Wednesday that he knew what the couple was planning and was with them before and after the murder.

Talley, 38, and Samantha Bevans, 34, of Palo, are each charged with first-degree murder in the July 14, 2022, slaying of Jodie Bevans, 58, of Palo.

Samantha Bevans will be tried separately Sept. 25 in Benton County District Court.

Money as motive

Assistant Iowa Attorney General Monty Platz, during his opening statement Tuesday, said the motive for the murder was money that Talley and Samantha Bevans believed was in the Bevans’ home safe.

Jodie and Mike Bevans had banned Talley from their home years before. They allowed Samantha Bevans to move back home in 2022 but kicked her out because she started using drugs again.

DCI Special Agent Holly Witt testified Thursday that investigators obtained search warrants for cellphone data from Talley, Samantha Bevans and Wells and for the Snapchat accounts of Talley and Samantha Bevans.

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Witt said she reviewed the video “hundreds of times.” Talley is difficult to hear on the video because he is standing behind Samantha while she’s recording it. She also talks over him a few times.

The prosecution provided a transcript of the audio to jurors after the video was played and an audio version of the video that investigators made with just Talley’s voice amplified.

Witt said cellphone data showed the video was made through Samantha Bevans’ Snapchat account on her phone about 9:41 a.m. July 16 in the vicinity of Motel 6 in Cedar Rapids. Wells’ cellphone data showed he was in the vicinity of Center Point when the couple made the video.

On July 14, a surveillance camera at Motel 6 showed Talley and Samantha Bevans getting into Wells’ car at 8:48 p.m. and leaving. When the motel door is opened, Wells is seen inside the room, and he stays behind. Wells’ cellphone data also showed him staying in the vicinity of Motel 6.

Witt showed on a Google map that it takes about 23 minutes to drive from Motel 6 to Jodie Bevans’ home in Palo. At 11:06 p.m., the Bevans’ security camera in their kitchen was disabled, according to records. The motel’s surveillance camera shows the couple returning to the motel at 12:36 a.m. July 15.

When the two returned to the motel, Samantha Bevans was wearing a different shirt, and Talley is shown carrying his phone. Both their phones data showed no activity until they returned to the motel, Witt said.

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