In death, Cusic’s mother made ‘final sacrifice’

CEDAR RAPIDS - The half-brother of Edward Cusic said in a victim's impact statement on Monday that their mother, who Cusic beat to death, made the 'final sacrifice” that a mother could make by attempting to stand between him and his addiction to drugs.

'Yes, her death was an act of love for her son,” Jesse E. Oldham Jr., of Great Falls, Montana, said in the statement, read by Penny Galvin, a victim's advocate with the Horizons Survivors Program, during Cusic's sentencing in Linn County District Court. 'She could have surrendered those drugs she had hidden on her and lived, but out of love for you she said no.”

Cusic, 47, was convicted in December of second-degree murder, following a seven-day trial. He was originally charged with first-degree murder, but the jury found him guilty of the lesser charge.

Testimony at trial showed Cusic beat to death his mother, Anita Labkon, 68, with a crowbar on Dec. 7, 2012 at the home they shared at 624 Old Marion Rd. NE. Cusic was trying to take prescription medication from Labkon, who prosecutors described as a 'frail” woman with serious health issues. She was struck eight times and had 19 broken bones from the attack.

According to trial testimony, Cusic admitted to police and a Gazette reporter that he killed his mother. He claimed she was threatening him with a knife or gun. During the trial, Cusic claimed diminished capacity and prescription drug intoxication.

Before 6th Judicial District Judge Fae Hoover-Grinde sentenced Cusic to 50 years in prison, he apologized to his brothers and his wife and children, saying they 'shouldn't be here today but we are. I'm sorry.”

Cusic will have to serve 35 years before being eligible for parole. The judge also ordered him to pay restitution of $150,000 to Labkon's estate and $3,337 to the Iowa Crime Victim's Assistance Program.

In his statement, Oldham also asked his brother to forgive him. Oldham, who works for the Salvation Army in Montana, tried to get Cusic, who had a drug addiction, into an adult rehabilitation program with the organization in Davenport, but they turned him down.

'Forgive me for having faith that those I trusted to help you did not,” Oldham said.

Oldham said his life for the last three years has been an emotional roller coaster after this tragedy, and 'tears, anger, hate, confusion, rage, resentment, anguish, despair, heartache, guilt and brokenness have often been my daily companions.”

Oldham also said he has suffered from depression and post-traumatic stress, along with suicidal thoughts, which made him seek counseling to deal with his pain. The only consolation in all this is that his brother didn't hurt someone else, he said.