News : Truesdell Trial - Day 2

Romondus "Ro" Cooper, Amanda Parker, Keonna Ryan, Brent Brown

On Wednesday, the state presented its opening statement in the trial of Luke Truesdell in the deaths of Amanda Parker of Vinton, Romondus "Ro" Cooper and Keonna Ryan of Cedar Rapids, and Brent Brown of Marion. As is common, the defense team followed with their opening statement. The court adjourned for the day as it was late in the afternoon. 

The court gathered at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday to resume the case. As the jury entered, Truesdell had a slight smile on his face. 

During the testimony, it was explained that the victims were all living on the property along with another man who assisted the homeowner with his care. Two of the victims were living in a tent inside the outdoor shed on the property. 

Testimony began with Matt Brown, the brother of one of the victims, Brent Brown. Matt had been called to the residence by his father, who owns the property. He had been called from work by his father, Lon Brown, with a panicked call saying simply that "they're all hurt," and indicated that they were all in the outside building. The father, Lon, is wheelchair-bound so was unable to go outside to investigate further.

Matt was followed to the location by his brother Corey, who had also been notified and was responding. First on the scene at his father's home, he approached the outbuilding, which is a steel-framed structure. As he entered, he first noticed the smell of burning oil. At first, he thought it was a case of carbon monoxide poisoning after seeing the first victim, Keonna, on the ground, and knowing that Romondus had been working on the truck a few days earlier.

He quickly opened a garage door while calling 911 to report the suspected poisoning.  His brother opened the other door. As the light came in from the outside, they could better see the situation. He noticed that his brother and Ro were on the ground and it became obvious that it was not a case of carbon monoxide poisoning. His brother was still breathing. He noticed that Amanda was further back inside the building and his brother Corey went to check on her. As the call played in court, Matt began to break down, reliving the moment as he heard himself sobbing on the call as he reported to the 911 dispatcher what he was seeing. 

Deputy Sheriff Justin Loftsgard of the Linn County Sheriff's office was the first to respond. He was closest to the location when the call went out. He described the same scene upon his arrival, while noticing that one victim was still breathing and being cradled by another man who had been outside working on a boat at the time.

Tyler Fairbanks of the Iowa State Patrol was called to testify next. He also heard the call while out on patrol and responded quickly to the scene, arriving after Loftsgard. He observed the situation, noting immediately that it wasn't the type of call that he'd thought it was. He observed blunt force trauma to the heads of each of the victims. Because he had a camera in his vehicle and was trained to document accidents, he began to document the scene.

The court broke for lunch and resumed the trial at nearly 2:00 p.m.

Taking the stand next was Cody McLaud, who also lived at the property. He assisted the owner, Lon when help was needed. As he approached the property after work, he saw the lights at the property and began to call the victims to see what was going on. He finally reached Lon, who told him that something had happened to the four victims.

When he arrived at the house, he was able to pull-up video from the surveillance cameras for the officers. At the time, deputies Matt, Cody, Luke, and Lon were all in the room when he pulled up video and saw someone he couldn't identify. He asked, "Who's that?" when Truesdell said, "That's me." McLaud was able to collect the video footage for officers to use in the case. 

Sergeant Erich Lear of the Linn County Sheriff's Office then testified. He is trained to process evidence and property in the lab. If he feels it's necessary, he sends items on to DCI (Iowa's Division of Criminal Investigation's Crime Lab).  He explained how he uses photography in his job. There are several processes of photographing the scene: taking a photo from a distance and capturing specific images of certain items. He went on to explain how the department uses FARO scans to create a 3D image of an entire crime scene. FARO will create millions of pieces of data. He explained that this process captures details that a camera cannot catch. 

He said 10 years ago, they used it mainly in accident scene reconstruction. The technology will take measurements, so it is easier than using a tape measure. When used at this crime scene, he used the technology to recreate the scene in 3D. The scene is created following any treatment by medical personel. When those on scene have determined that nothing else can be done, any items used at the scene are left behind in case they might contain more evidence.

The equipment also captures blood spatter on a scene and physical changes to a scene. Weapons, clothing or any other items that might contribute to the case are also gathered from the scene and processed. The items are taken to the lab, laid out, photographed, and examined for any evidence left on the items for testing. He explained that the shoes and a shirt worn by Truesdell were sent to DCI to test what appeared to be blood on the items. 

Wrapping up the day was testimony by detective Sergeant Timothy Payne of the Linn County Sheriffs Criminal Division. Payne was sent to the site by his superior. He first saw Keonna, then Romondus in front of the truck he was working on, Brent had been flown out by then, and then he found Amanda. He described the injuries as extensive head trauma. He was then instructed to talk to Larry Truesdell who had originally been cradeling Brent as soon as the attack had been discovered. Larry was now sitting in the yard distraught. 

He approaced Luke Truesdell who was now seated on the steps of the house. After talking to Truesdell, Payne read the Miranda Rights to Truesdell. 

The defense had not viewed the bodycam footage and since it was approaching 4:30 p.m. the jury was dismissed for the day and will convene again at 9:00 a.m. in the Linn County District Court, to resume the trial with Judge Elizabeth Dupuich residing.