Articles Tagged: Marion Police Department

A car collided Monday afternoon with a Linn-Mar Community School District bus, but the bus driver and passengers were uninjured, Marion police said.

A masked robber, who was identified last year after Marion police saw his sinister clown tattoo on his leg, pleaded to a lesser charge and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He must serve a mandatory five years before being eligible for parole.

Video shows a Central City man driving through two backyards in Marion, striking fences and a play set. He’s now been identified and charged with failure to maintain control and striking fixtures upon a highway.

After 38 years in law enforcement and holding jobs that took him from Memphis, Tenn., to Abu Ghraib in Iraq, to Marion, Iowa, Marion Police Chief Mike Kitsmiller is retiring.

Marion Police Chief Mike Kitsmiller announced Thursday that he plans to retire in April after serving for about five years.

Defense for Marion man says a fair and impartial jury can’t be selected in Linn County because the pretrial publicity. The news articles and coverage has reported unsubstantiated information. Prosecution argues news articles have been accurate and reported facts in the case taken from criminal complaints and court documents.

Jodie Beth Thomas, 83, was last seen on Dec. 13.

A 16-year-old who shot a 17-year-old last year during a basketball game in Marion will be sent to the State Training School in Eldora until he turns 18. A judge will then decide whether to release him or sentence him to probation or prison to serve remainder of term.

The autopsy of Melody Hoffman, 20, of Marion, showed blunt force injuries all over her body, along with five stab wounds and numerous cutting marks on her back. A medical examiner also said Hoffman may have been pregnant at the time of her strangulation or recently had a miscarriage, which could be a possible motive for the Hiawatha man on trial for kidnapping and murder.

McKinley Louisma, in a police interview, said his co-conspirator held a gun to his head and started beating a Marion woman and then strangled her.

McKinley Louisma’s phone also shows messages exchanged with victim

Marion police investigators testify about traffic camers and cell tower locations used to track Hiawath man and his co-conspirator accused of kidnapping and killing Marion woman on in February.

A Marion father strangled to death his 5 year-old son after staying up most of the night contemplating how he would kill him. One way was using knives, which police found during a search of the home.

Marion police are investigating an attack early Thursday in which a man was injured by a person armed with a knife.

A Cedar Rapids man who police say was driving 116 mph on Highway 100 through Marion last month before crashing broadside into a minivan now faces multiple traffic citations.