Trish Mehaffey

The U.S. Attorney’s Office Northern District had nearly twice as many trials in 2024 and is ranked second for cases filed among the other 25 federal districts of its size. The district includes Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, Fort Dodge and Sioux City.

Dr. Melissa Blessing started as the Johnson County deputy medical examiner last month. She feels its a “privilege” to do the work and be able to explain to families how their loved ones died. The UI pathology department and county medical examiner department have both been on her radar since her residency at Mayo School of Graduate Education in Rochester, Minn.

A judge on Friday sentenced McKinley Louisma to life in prison without parole for the kidnapping, torture and strangulation of Melody Hoffman, 20, of Marion, on Feb. 17. Melody’s mother said her daughter would want her to forgive Louisma but she couldn’t.

A Center Point man crossing Highway 965 in North Liberty on foot was struck by a pickup truck on Tuesday. Police said he had life threatening injuries and was taken to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

A 16-year-old who shot a 17-year-old last year during a basketball game in Marion will be sent to the State Training School in Eldora until he turns 18. A judge will then decide whether to release him or sentence him to probation or prison to serve remainder of term.

A Cedar Rapids landlord found his first-floor tenant, Dorothy J. Rose, 43, lying face down in her apartment on Nov. 28, 2006. Police found Rose had been strangled with an electrical cord and another item. The murder remains unsolved but is being reviewed again by cold case investigators.

A judge, in two separate pretrial hearings Friday, said trials for Huston Danker and Karina Cooper, both accused of killing Cooper’s husband in 2021, will go forward. Danker will be tried Jan. 21 in Johnson County and Cooper on Feb. 25 in Linn County.

A Cedar Rapids man who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol was resentenced this week to time served -- about 11 months in federal prison. He was originally sentenced to 30 months before an appeals court tossed out an obstruction charge.

A Johnson County jury Tuesday found Renard Winfield Jr., of Gary, Ind., guilty of first-degree murder in what prosecutors called a revenge plot where Winfield posed as a woman to lure Tommy Curry, of Iowa City, to his death. The jury deliberated nearly four hours on Tuesday.

Renard Winfield Jr., of Gary, Ind., told police during an interview, he didn’t know or kill Tommy Curry, 31, of Iowa City, in April of 2021. He also denied being in Iowa at the time, even though investigators had evidence he was in Iowa City on April 28, when Curry was fatally shot.

Iowa City police investigators testify about numerious pieces of evidence, including cell phone data, surveillance videos and a video made by Renard Winfield, which they say showed he lured Tommy Curry to his death.

An Iowa City police officer testified Thursday some of the ammunition used to kill an Iowa City man is not typically found at crime scenes. Five bullets were “unique and more powerful,“ and able to penetrate metal.

A prosecutor says the fatal shooting of Tommy Curry in 2021 is about revenge -- “a dish best served cold.” Renard Winfield Jr., 32, of Gary, Ind., is accused of posing as a woman on a dating app to lure Curry, of Iowa City, to his death.

A Cedar Rapids man, who had history of sex abuse and sex offender registry offenses, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for soliciting an individual he believed was a 14-year-old boy, but it was actually a police officer posing online as a teen.

A retired Linn County chief public defender who died of a heart attack in June was honored last month for his work as a board member for the RISE program, which helps individuals reintegrate back into the community after completing a prison term. The computer center was dedicated in his name.