Cedar Rapids woman died after being struck multiple times in head with metal rod

CEDAR RAPIDS — Emily Leonard was struck multiple times in the head, from different angles, causing multiple skull fractures and a large tear in her scalp, as well as other bruising, lacerations and broken bones, a state medical examiner testified Friday.

The injuries could have been made by a linear or rounded thin object — possibly a bat or a metal rod, Dr. Jacob Smith, associate state medical examiner, said during testimony in the Arthur Flowers first-degree murder trial.

One single blow, he said, could not have caused the blunt force head injuries, Smith said.

A prosecutor said Thursday that a metal rod, shown to the jury as part of the evidence Friday, is the weapon Flowers, 62, used to kill Leonard, 22, on April 2, 2022.

The 3- to 4-foot rod had a circular shaped metal piece on one end.

Autopsy photos shown Friday were so graphic that Assistant Linn County Attorney Jordan Schier asked for an early break in the morning because one of the jurors appeared ill.

The prosecution will continue its case 9 a.m. Monday in Linn County District Court. The defense may start Monday afternoon and could wrap up Tuesday.

Smith, during his testimony, said Leonard would not have survived long after suffering multiple blows to the head.

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He also identified photos of her other injuries, including neck abrasions, scrapes and bruising that could have been from someone strangling or hitting her. She also could have been hit against a wall, he said.

Smith said Leonard also had lacerations and bruises to the back of her neck, one ear and the top of her hands and fingers.

She had defensive wounds on her palms — more bruising and cuts — that continued up her forearm, elbow and upper arms, Smith said. She had broken bones in her fingers and forearms.

Smith said the toxicology report showed Leonard had several drugs in her system — fentanyl and metabolites and other compounds, morphine, methamphetamine, a sedative or tranquilize-type drug and metabolite of cocaine. He couldn’t say when she had used the drugs but it was most likely within hours of her death.

Smith said none of the drugs caused or contributed to Leonard’s death. The cause of death was blunt force injuries to her head, and the manner of death was homicide, he said.

On cross-examination, Smith testified Leonard had needle marks — track marks — on her arms from likely heroin use. She may have taken what she thought was heroin, but it could have included those other drugs found in her system, he said.

Leonard also had abrasions and bruising to her torso area. Most were the same “coloration” of her other injuries — meaning they likely occurred at the same time. Others on her torso were older — maybe days before her death.

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Investigator testifies

In other testimony, Cedar Rapids police crime scene investigator Thaddeus Paisar identified photos of the bathroom in Flowers’ southeast Cedar Rapids home, where Leonard’s body was found.

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A large number of items were “piled” in the bathroom that normally wouldn’t be in a bathroom, he said. The room was in “disarray,” and police found layers of items concealing other items that had blood spatter on them.

A mirror on the floor, leaning against the bathroom vanity, didn’t have blood on it, but the vanity had blood on it that the mirror was concealing.

Paisar said a red bench in the bathroom against a wall wasn’t in that location when Leonard was killed because there was blood spatter patterns on the wall that couldn’t have been there because the bench would have prevented it.

On the wall above the bench, investigators found circular holes. Paisar said the holes were similar in size to the metal rod.

Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com

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