Mourners remember murder-suicide victim

CEDAR FALLS - Friends and family members paid a final farewell on Tuesday to the victim of last week's murder-suicide in Jesup.

Investigators say Timothy Roses, 45, of Texas, followed ex-girlfriend Lindsay Nichols, 22, of Evansdale, to the home of her new boyfriend on the night of March 22. There, on a street corner in Jesup, he confronted Nichols and shot her before taking his own life.

Hundreds of mourners gathered at a church in Cedar Falls and then made a trip to the cemetery. An Evansdale fire truck led the funeral procession, which included dozens of police and rescue vehicles from different departments.

Nichols' father, Tom Nichols, is a deputy with the Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office. Sheriff Tony Thompson said department employees remember Lindsay Nichols well.

“We've had the privilege of watching her grow up and listening to all the ‘father' stories of the trials and tribulations of raising a daughter,” Thompson said.

While other law enforcement officers took over patrol duties, 80 percent of the Sheriff's Office's deputies and staffers showed up for Tuesday's services.

Thompson said the investigation has been particularly trying because of the personal ties so many deputies have with the victim's family.

“Why did this have to happen to somebody so young, so full of life and full of future?” he asked.

People in Nichols' hometown are wondering the same thing.

“When you're 22, you're supposed to have your whole life ahead of you, not have it taken from you - it's hard to accept,” said Evansdale Mayor Chad Deutsch, a family friend.