911 call released in rest stop murder; suspect turned himself in

A Victor man murdered May 29 at a westbound I-80 rest area in Eastern Iowa was apparently shot in the groin area, according to a 911 tape released today by the Iowa County Sheriff's Office today.

New details also emerged as to how authorities captured Peter Riggs, 31, of Columbus, Neb., who is now charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of  Jeffery McAdam, 46.

Iowa County authorities say Riggs was apprehended about three hours after McAdam was found at the rest area when he turned himself in to a deputy. The deputy was helping a motorist near the Johnson-Cedar county line.

Riggs informed him he had guns in his car and a loaded 9 mm handgun was found inside a cooler in the front passenger area.

The 911 tape

Darrell Rustad, a Wisconsin truck driver and the person who called 911 on May 29, told a dispatcher that there was a man who had fallen inside the men's bathroom at about 7:45 p.m.

Listen to the 911 call

“He's bleeding and hurt pretty bad,” Rustad said during the call.

Rustad described McAdam to the dispatcher. He said the a man was lying by one of the urinals, which had been partly tipped over, he said.

“He's making a gurgling-like sound,” Rustad said.

“Can he talk,” the dispatcher asked. “Is he breathing?”

The dispatcher asked if Rustad knew how to do CPR but he went back inside the restroom to confirm if he was breathing. Rustad said he was breathing and was “hacking and coughing” but unconscious. He then said  blood was coming from his groin area.

Iowa County Sheriff Robert Rotter said last week McAdam suffered one gunshot wound but wouldn't say where it was located.

The dispatcher told him a deputy and medical personnel were on their way.

Details of the case

Rotter hasn't released much information in the case. He did say today that it seems McAdam was shot without provocation.

“McAdam was never able to speak to anyone that we know of,” Rotter said. “There's no information to support any kind of altercation between the two.”

Rotter said that probably sounds unusual but murder is senseless and this case is the “superlative illustration of senseless. The Victor community had lost a good and decent man and there is simply no reason for it.”

Rotter also said it didn't appear as Riggs was driving anywhere in particular, he was “just simply driving.”