DECORAH, Iowa (KCRG) – A judge has ordered that the results of a trial convicting a Decorah man of murder will hold up, despite the defendant pleading to have the verdict voided. A jury convicted Aaron Whittle of second degree murder in March of this year. Prosecutors say he shot his father Larry Whittle in Decorah and then tried covering it up by burning both his body and the gun used in the shooting. Whittle admits to burning his dad’s body and the gun, but he says the shooting was an accident. He says the two were handling the same gun during an argument when it went off. In his plea for a new trial, Whittle argued some evidence should not have been allowed at trial and that prosecutors didn’t prove second-degree murder. In her ruling, a judge stated that the Court could not determine that the jury’s verdict was contrary to the case’s evidence and that following an independent evaluation of the credibility of the witnesses, they overruled Whittle’s motion to dismiss the trial. Sentencing for Whittle is set to occur on May 3rd, 2023.
DES MOINES, Iowa (KCRG) — An Iowa woman who entered the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection was sentenced Monday to five months in prison. Deborah Sandoval, 56, entered a plea of guilty in December to entering a restricted building. In exchange for her plea, several other counts were dropped. Sandoval and her son, Salvador Sandoval Jr., of Ankeny, were arrested in February 2021. Prosecutors said they were among a mob that broke through police lines and stormed the Capitol. She admitted that before Jan. 6, she posted messages on Facebook about traveling to the event, saying that “if the electors don’t elect we will be forced into civil war.” Prosecutors said she entered the Capitol through a door that had been forced open and remained in the building for about 24 minutes. After a two-day trial in December, Salvador Sandoval Jr. was convicted on 12 counts related to the insurrection. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 7th.
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Upper Iowa University has announced that they are reducing the number of sports programs offered in their athletics department. The University announced that they are discontinuing seven sports programs following the end of competitions this May. The sports being cut include men’s and women’s bowling, men’s cross country, men’s indoor and outdoor track and field, women’s tennis, and shotgun sports. The change comes as the school will compete as a full member in the Great Lakes Valley Conference in the fall of 2023. They have previously been in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference.
DES MOINES, Iowa (IOWA’S NEWS NOW) — Jury selection is underway for one of the two teens accused in the deadly shooting at a Des Moines nonprofit earlier this year. 19-year-old Preston Walls is charged with the murders of 16-year-old Rashad Carr and 18-year-old Gionni Dameron, as well as the attempted murder of Will Holmes, also known as Will Keeps, the founder of “Starts Right Here”. According to a criminal complaint, Walls was caught on surveillance camera committing the shooting and police found him hiding in a brush pile shortly after, along with his gun. The criminal complaint also alleges the murders were premeditated because Walls was already on probation at the time and cut off his GPS ankle monitor 16 minutes prior to the shooting. Walls also faces a charge of criminal gang participation. 19-year-old Bravon Tukes is also charged in the shooting, accused of being Wall’s getaway driver. The two will be tried separately.
