Trish Mehaffey

A Linn County jury finds a Cedar Rapids man guilty of a lesser charge, voluntary manslaughter, for beating 22-year-old woman with a metal rod. Prosecutor says this was a ‘brutal and unjustified“ killing.

The Iowa City Downtown District launches its rewards program that gives points to redeem for discounts, free products, rewards and inside perks.

Arthur Flowers, during a police interview, denied killing Emily Leonard on April 2, 2022. He says he was sound asleep in his bathtub — inches away from where Leonard’s body was found — but he didn’t hear or see anything.

Emily Leonard was struck multiple times in the head with a linear or rounded object -- possibly a metal rod, a state medical examiner testified Friday. The blows were made a different angles and she would have died shortly after being attacked.

Prosecutor said Emily Leonard was beaten with a metal rod and left in an upstairs bathroom. Arthur Flowers of Cedar Rapids called 911, saying she had overdosed and he didn’t know what happened.

Judge sets sentencing dates in July and August for Fairfield teens convicted in beating death of Spanish teacher last year.

Two Fairfield teens in separate hearings Tuesday plead guilty to killing their Spanish teacher Nov. 2, 2021. One admitted they both struck Nohema Graber with a baseball bat, killing her. The other teen wouldn’t admit to striking the teacher, only planning the crime.

Willard “Chaiden” Miller and Jeremy Goodale, the teens charged with beating to death Nohema Graber, their Spanish teacher in Fairfield, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in separate hearings this morning.

A former treasurer and past president of Iowa City Pride pleaded to a lesser charge Monday for stealing over $35,000 from the organization in 2021. He is also required to pay the restitution to the group, as part of his plea agreement.

A former Center Point-Urbana teacher pleads to lesser charge for inappropriate touching and texting of his 13-year-old student. He faces 2 years in prison.

A North Liberty man faces life in prison without parole after being found guilty of helping his girlfriend suffocate her stepmother with a pillow last year.

An Iowa City man was sentenced Friday to 50 years in prison for attempting to kill ex-girlfriend, her boyfriend and 3 kids by setting a blaze with lighter fluid inside her apartment.

A grieving daughter chastised her father’s killer at his Friday sentencing for sending a hurtful and nasty letter to her family, saying he did them a favor by killing their loved one. Conklin was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

A pilot civil specialty court will start next month in Johnson County to help individuals who were involuntarily committed be successful on their own in the community. The court sessions will ensure participants continue their meds, treatment and receive other needed supports.

The Snapchat video of a North Liberty man, on trial this week for first-degree murder, and his girlfriend saying “we killed” her stepmother in July 2022, was played for the jury Thursday in Benton County District Court in Vinton.