Crime & Courts

A 39-year-old Anamosa man is accused of sneaking into a rural Cedar Rapids woman's house while she slept on Sunday, attacking her and a man who was with her, and returning hours later to damage four vehicles at the property.

President Joe Biden on Monday announced that he is commuting the sentences of 37 of the 40 people on federal death row, converting their punishments to life imprisonment just weeks before President-elect Donald Trump, an outspoken proponent of expanding capital punishment, takes office.

Dr. Melissa Blessing started as the Johnson County deputy medical examiner last month. She feels its a “privilege” to do the work and be able to explain to families how their loved ones died. The UI pathology department and county medical examiner department have both been on her radar since her residency at Mayo School of Graduate Education in Rochester, Minn.

A judge on Friday sentenced McKinley Louisma to life in prison without parole for the kidnapping, torture and strangulation of Melody Hoffman, 20, of Marion, on Feb. 17. Melody’s mother said her daughter would want her to forgive Louisma but she couldn’t.

Timothy Scott Towne, 58 of Cedar Rapids, was being held on several charges since Dec. 7 at the jail and faced a Feb. 24 trial, records show.

The inmate, who “had an extensive medical history and was serving time on several charges” since Dec. 7, according to the Sheriff’s Office, was not identified until notification of relatives.

Robert Teig, who spent 32 years with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Iowa before his retirement in 2011, filed the lawsuit last week in Polk County District Court.

State investigators found that two jails restrained inmates in chairs for excessive amounts of time. One jail used the restraints punitively, and the other confined someone who was having a mental health crisis.