Jurors to see graphic video of fatal stabbing in Hy-Vee parking lot

CEDAR RAPIDS - A jury could be selected Tuesday for a murder trial in which the panelists are expected to be shown a surveillance video of 29-year-old Lynnsey Donald being stabbed to death outside a grocery store.

The video will show Nicholas Luerkens, 32, attacking Donald on April 21 as she comes out of the Marion Hy-Vee and heads to the car, holding her 7-year-old son's hand, according to court documents.

Luerkens approaches them and grabs Donald's arm as he stabs her, the documents state. He then stabs and injures himself.

Luerkens is charged with first-degree murder. He will claim he was insane or had diminished capacity and was intoxicated by drugs or alcohol at the time of the killing, court documents state. If convicted, he faces life in prison without parole.

Prospective jurors were told Monday there would be graphic images and photos introduced at the trial.

But this video represents a first for this district.

Sixth Judicial District Chief Judge Patrick Grady said last week there have been grisly crime scene and graphic autopsy photos in local trials - but not a video showing a fatal attack as its happening.

Jury selection started Monday and continues Tuesday in Linn County District Court. The trial is expected to last all week, and possibly go into next week.

Grady has some experience with trials where graphic images come into evidence. In 2006, he presided over the murder trial of Roger Bentley, who was convicted that year of kidnapping and killing 10-year-old Jetseta Gage in 2005.

Grady said he and the attorneys were concerned about how the graphic images would affect jurors, so the defense proposed showing the most graphic image that would come into evidence. It was a photo of Jetseta's body, wrapped in a plastic garment bag and stuffed in a cabinet of an abandoned mobile home in Johnson County. The child had been raped and died of suffocation.

Grady said 78 jurors were questioned. Many, after seeing the photo, said they couldn't be fair and were excused. Some others who got picked said they were glad they had been prepared.

'It helped alleviate the trauma,” Grady said. 'It's a tough thing we ask people to do.”

Cynthia Vaske, a licensed independent social worker with St. Luke's Hospital, said that when anyone sees this kind of violence it can trigger some post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms such as nightmares, sleeplessness, stress and anxiety.

Vaske said it would likely be especially difficult for jurors because they can't talk about it to each other until deliberations, or to family and friends during the trial.

If she could give advice, she would suggest jurors write it all down.

'Just to get it out and then they could shred it,” Vaske said. 'It's important for them to monitor themselves afterward and if they are having anxiety, having flashbacks, then they should talk to someone.”

Iowa does not provide counseling for jurors after a trial, but State Court Administrator David Boyd said Monday "if a juror requests assistance, then court administration will work with the juror to address his or her specific situation."

In the federal court system, jurors can receive free counseling through an employee assistance program if a judge extends their jury service after the trial. The jurors are considered federal employees while on jury duty.

U.S. District Chief Judge Linda Reade extended the jurors' service in the murder trial of Gordon Lasley, Jr., according to an article on the U.S. Courts website. Lasley, 26, of Tama, was convicted of killing his father and mother with a machete in 2014.

Reade said she made sure the court clerks sent letters to each juror with contact information about the service that was available for 90 days through the federal program, according to the article.