Cedar Rapids man says he was sleeping in tub when woman was killed with metal rod

CEDAR RAPIDS — During a two-hour interview, a Cedar Rapids man avoided a police investigator’s questions and told rambling stories that had nothing to do with how Emily Leonard was struck multiple times in the head with a metal rod and was found dead in his bathroom.

Every time Cedar Rapids Police Investigator Martin DeVore asked how 22-year-old Leonard ended up dead, Arthur Flowers said he was sound asleep in his bathtub, which was within inches of her body. He said he didn’t know what happened.

“I love water,” Flowers, 62, on trial for first-degree murder, said during the 2022 interview that was played for jurors Monday. He claimed to sleeping “under water” all the time.

During the interview, Flowers denied killing Leonard and suggested she was “poisoned,” overdosed on drugs or got bit by a spider. He also accused her father of killing her, but then admitted her father was in jail, and then accused two other men.

He also said John Leonard, Emily’s dad, “is going to kill him.”

Flowers, at one point, mentioned throwing a body in the river, which DeVore said he found odd because it didn’t pertain to the questions at the time.

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The prosecution rested after DeVore’s testimony Monday. The defense will start its case Tuesday in Linn County District Court.

According to testimony last week, Leonard was struck multiple times in the head with a metal pole found in Flowers’ bathroom on April 2, 2022. The blood on the rod matched Leonard’s DNA.

The blows were made at different angles, perhaps as if she was trying to move away from the attacker. She did have defensive wounds on her hands and arms, a state medical examiner testified.

Investigators testified the bathroom was in disarray and covered in blood. There were layers of items that typically don’t belong in the bathroom, which investigators said were concealing blood spatter.

DeVore, in the audio interview, seemed to have a difficult time asking questions because Flowers would start talking about something from years ago, assuming DeVore understood what he was talking about. Many statements Flowers made didn’t make sense.

Flowers said Leonard came to his house around 5 p.m. on April 1. He said she woke up at different times and he gave her some chicken nuggets. He said she asked for soda, so he went to Gyro Hut to buy a 2-liter bottle. He said she wanted to get drugs.

Leonard was in the bathroom getting ready for a date and he got in the bathtub and fell asleep, Flowers said. He told investigators he didn’t know what happened to her because when he woke up, she was on the floor dead. He said she overdosed.

At one point, he said Leonard was worried about someone hurting her and later suggested someone must have been in the house.

DeVore continued to ask what happened but Flowers denied killing her. He said he fell asleep and is a sound sleeper.

During the interview, Flowers would start to cry and then abruptly stop. He also raised his voice and hollered that he didn’t kill Leonard and didn’t know what happened. He mentioned bringing plastic sheeting and moving blankets into the bathroom, which investigators found covering bloodied items.

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Flowers also admitted that he and Leonard had some type of sexual relationship, but added that sometimes he’s impotent, so he tried to have sex with her any time he could.

DeVore said Flowers also mentioned Leonard “died twice,” which he didn’t understand because based on her injuries, a medical examiner said she would have died shortly after being assaulted.

The other prosecution witness called Monday was a crime scene investigator who testified about finding more items in the bathroom with blood spatter. He said he found a beach towel that was red in color and saturated with water, which appeared to be used to remove blood spatter. The towel was found concealed under blankets that Leonard’s body was placed on.

Kraig Kruger, police crime scene investigator, said there were also several areas of the house where they couldn’t find any fingerprints belonging to Flowers, which is unusual considering it’s his house.

Kruger said Leonard was attacked in the bathroom based on the concentration of blood. The door frame of the bathroom had damage consistent with a metal rod hitting it.

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