Trial set May 2015 for Waterloo man accused of killing ex-girlfriend  

CEDAR RAPIDS - The Waterloo man accused of killing his ex-girlfriend and dumping her body on a gravel road near Walker will be tried May 5 in Linn County District Court.

Shaun Hogan, 36, is charged with first-degree murder. He is accused of killing Crystal Gaffney, 29, who was found dead on Linn-Buchanan Road July 9. According to an autopsy report she died from a blunt force trauma.

Hogan's ex-wife Tamera McClaren implicated him in the crime, according to search warrant affidavits. She said Hogan called her around 10 p.m. July 8, saying he had 'done something bad” and that Gaffney wasn't breathing. Hogan wanted to know what to do with Gaffney's children.

Another woman, Jennifer Wilson, told police that her children spoke with Gaffney's children on July 9, according to court documents. Gaffney's children told the Wilson's children they had seen their father stab and kill their mother the night before.

Hogan and Gaffney were in and out of a relationship for a year and a half before her death, John Maynard, Gaffney's uncle, told The Gazette after Hogan was charged.

Hogan has pleaded not guilty and remains in Linn County Jail. If convicted, he faces life in prison without parole.