Family member: Accused killer Burtch won’t pay behind bars but someday ‘will answer to God’

IOWA CITY - Carrie Fortin, sister of Lance DeWoody, who was killed in 1985, said Thursday in a victim impact statement that she and her family are saddened that the person they believe killed her brother didn't 'pay for his crime behind bars.”

'But we have faith, and we know in our hearts that the true punishment for Lance's murder is still to come when he has to answer to God,” Fortin, who was holding a photo of her brother, said during the sentencing of Anthony Burtch in Johnson County.

Burtch, 58, originally charged with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of DeWoody, his wife's lover, pleaded guilty last month to an amended charge of obstruction of prosecution, an aggravated misdemeanor.

Sixth Judicial District Judge Paul Miller dismissed the first-degree murder and carrying weapons charges Thursday, which was part of the plea agreement, and sentenced Burtch to six months in jail with credit for time served.

Burtch declined to make a statement during sentencing.

DeWoody, 22, was killed on Aug. 12, 1985. He was the boyfriend of Burtch's then-wife and prosecutors alleged Burtch shot him in the head and face. DeWoody's body was discovered on Aug. 13, 1985, in a picnic shelter on the north side of the University of Iowa's Oakdale campus.

DeWoody and Burtch's now ex-wife had been together the night of Aug. 12, and then she returned to her husband. Shortly thereafter, Burtch left for about 90 minutes.

Fortin, in her statement, told the court how it has been more than 31 years since her brother was killed but his death impacted her and her family's lives in so many ways.

'My mother and father were very devastated by losing Lance,” Fortin said. 'My mother so wanted to have this solved before she died. Unfortunately, she died in July 2009 with no closure and a broken heart.”

Fortin also shared some memories of her brother, who she called a 'friendly, loving person who always had a smile on his face.” Her brother never knew a stranger and he would help anybody, she noted.

Her brother loved playing football in high school and working on a hog farm.

'He would get a look in his eye and a grin on his face and I knew he was going to tease or pull a joke on someone,” Fortin said.

Fortin said she has shared these memories with many others, including her two daughters, and she said they would have had a 'wonderful” uncle in him. She said his death also deprived her of nieces and nephews and more grandchildren for her parents.

Assistant Johnson County Attorney Jude Pannell said during the hearing this was the appropriate sentence for Burtch's actions. Burtch chose to 'lie to police” about what happened in order to avoid prosecution.

In the plea, Burtch admits he gave different statements to law enforcement, regarding people he claimed had harassed him back in 1985. Police said Burtch initially told investigators that he and DeWoody had been harassed by a trio of men in the months leading up to DeWoody's death, but an investigation revealed those men didn't exist.

Following Thursday's hearing, Pannell in explaining how this went from a murder charge to a misdemeanor, said cold cases like this are difficult to prosecute. This was especially true in this case because some of the witnesses had died.

'We wanted closure for the family,” Pannell said. 'We consulted the family on the plea. Justice has been served as best as we could.”

Asked if they had the right suspect, Pannell would only say 'he's innocent until proven guilty,” but added that the case was closed.

Clemens Erdahl, Burtch's lawyer, agreed with Pannell, saying cold cases are 'tough.” There were six dead witnesses both sides thought would help their cases, he added.

Erdahl, after Burtch's guilty plea, said Burtch maintains his innocence and said his client agreed to the plea agreement to avoid going to trial on the murder charge and possibly facing life in prison if convicted.

Last month, Burtch agreed to a similar plea deal - one without the obstruction charge - but then withdrew that plea after Judge Miller didn't approve it.

Erdahl said the trial information was then amended to include the obstruction charge, which was the appropriate charge, and the judge accepted it.

There were obvious issues with the case last year when Judge Miller released Burtch from jail with GPS monitoring and other conditions, pending trial, when he learned new testing on DNA evidence found at the crime scene didn't implicate Burtch. The prosecution believed the testing would strengthen its case based on technological advances that were not available back in 1985.

Miller in his order last September said the DNA found at the picnic shelter didn't match Burtch 'but rather excludes him as a contributor to the DNA profile.”

Miller also noted it appeared the prosecution was relying on the same evidence it felt was insufficient 30 years ago to charge Burtch at the time.

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