Trial reset for Hiawatha man accused of killing his mother with rotten apple

CEDAR RAPIDS - The murder trial of a Hiawatha man, charged with killing his 56-year-old mother by shoving a rotten apple down her throat, has been reset to Jan. 16 in Linn County District Court.

Joseph Hubbard, 32, was charged last year with second-degree murder, second-degree arson, third-degree burglary and assault causing bodily injury.

Hubbard remains in jail under a $1 million bail. He will claim diminished responsibility/insanity and self-defense at trial, according to court documents. There is no information in the court records regarding his mental issues.

A criminal complaint shows Hubbard was arrested after police found Hubbard naked in the 700 block of North Center Point Road on Dec. 2, 2016. Police found Hubbard attempting to get into several vehicles before getting into a construction van.

Hiawatha officers said Hubbard 'appeared to be in an altered state of mind.” Hubbard told officers he found his mother dead that morning.

Officers took him to a hospital for examination and he confessed that he killed his mother, Deborah Roman, by shoving a rotten apple down her throat. Police went to Roman's mobile home at 213 Sunset Lane and found her body inside.

During an autopsy, a state medical examiner found large chunks of apple in Roman's throat and ruled she died from asphyxiation, the complaint shows.

Hubbard, before police found him at the construction van, had forced his way into a storage shed of the nearby New Beginnings Church, took off his clothes and soaked them with gasoline, the complaint shows.

Hubbard also is charged with assaulting a man named Steven Behrens before getting into the van.

If convicted on all charges, Hubbard faces up to 66 years in prison, with a mandatory 35 years to serve before being eligible for parole.

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