Tag: Iowa

Michael Swanson Teen Killer Murders 2 Store Clerks

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Michael Swanson was seventeen when he would shoot and kill two clerks during two robberies. According to court documents Michael Swanson who is from Minnesota would travel to Iowa to rob a store where he would shoot and kill the store clerk. He would travel to another Iowa county where he would kill another store clerk. Michael Swanson would be sentenced to life in prison without parole. Since being in prison this teen killer has been convicted of attempted murder dealing with a violent assault on another inmate.

Michael Swanson 2023 Information

michael swanson photos
NameMichael Richard Swanson
Offender Number6658252
SexM
Birth Date05/11/1993
LocationIowa Medical & Classification Center
OffenseMURDER 1ST DEGREE
TDD/SDD *LIFE
Commitment Date07/07/2011
Recall Date03/04/2089
Mandatory Minimum (if applicable)01/04/2089

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A man imprisoned for killing two North Iowa store clerks was in solitary confinement on Friday after attacking another inmate, officials say.

Michael Richard Swanson, 21, and fellow inmate Michael Ivester are charged with felony attempted murder.

Swanson, serving time for the 2010 shooting deaths of Vicky Bowman-Hall and Sheila Myers, slashed another inmate in the neck multiple times at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center in Coralville on Nov. 13, according to a criminal complaint and affidavit.

The victim needed stitches to close 15 lacerations, the complaint states. A corrections officer and another inmate allegedly pushed Swanson off the victim.

Prison officials say Ivester also was involved in the attack. Officials would not identify the victim.

Swanson and Ivester have been separated from the rest of the prison population. They are not allowed to interact with one another or other inmates, said Iowa Department of Corrections Assistant Director Fred Scaletta.

No staff members were injured. The incident did not result in a lock down at the classification center, Scaletta said.PauseCurrent Time0:00/Duration Time0:00Stream TypeLIVELoaded: 0%Progress: 0%0:00Fullscreen00:00Mute

Swanson was imprisoned for the shooting deaths of Bowman-Hall, 47, of Burt, and Myers, 61, of Humboldt, on Nov. 15, 2010. 

Bowman-Hall was working at the Crossroads gas station in Algona. Myers was shot later that night at a Kum and Go in Humboldt.

A jury convicted Swanson of first-degree murder for Myers’ death. After the verdict, he pleaded guilty to first-degree murder for the death of Bowman-Hall. 

Initially sentenced to life in prison, Swanson was one of 38 inmates convicted as juveniles whose life-time prison sentences were commuted by Gov. Terry Branstad. 

Branstad made the move after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled juveniles could not be sentenced to life without parole.

Swanson, who was 17 at the time of the killings, will now be eligible for parole after serving 60 years in prison.

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Michael Swanson, who killed two convenience store workers in 2010 and was convicted in 2011, will serve an additional 25 years after pleading guilty to attempted murder

Swanson, 21, made the guilty plea Tuesday to slashing a fellow inmate with a knife at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center in Coralville.

A second inmate, Michael Ivester, 34, pleaded guilty to attempted murder in late October.

On Nov. 15, 2010, Swanson, then 17 years old, shot Sheila Myers at a Humboldt convenience store. Earlier in the evening, he shot Vicky Bowman-Hall at a convenience store in Algona.

Both women were survived by husbands and children.

Swanson was convicted of first-degree murder and first-degree robbery for killing Myers. He shot Myers in the face with a .40-caliber Beretta handgun and left the Kum & Go store with $31 and some cigarettes.

He received a life sentence for that murder.

Swanson pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and first-degree robbery for Bowman-Hall’s death.

He admitted during his plea hearing that he walked into the Crossroads convenience store on the night of her death armed and shot Bowman-Hall with the intention of killing her.

Swanson received a life sentence for that murder.

In 2013, Gov. Terry Branstad commuted the life sentences of 38 Iowa inmates convicted as juveniles, including Swanson, to terms of 60 years in prison before they could be eligible for parole.

That order came following a 2012 United States Supreme Court ruling that threw out automatic life sentences for juveniles.

A re-sentencing hearing for Swanson has been continued indefinitely due to the attempted murder case, according to Iowa Courts Online.

https://www.messengernews.net/news/local-news/2015/11/swanson-gets-25-years-for-slashing-inmate/

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Isaiah Sweet Teen Killer Murders Grandmother

isaiah sweet teen killer

Isaiah Sweet was seventeen years old when he murdered his grandparents with an automatic rifle. According to court documents Isaiah Sweet grandparents had called police over a dozen time in a month’s period in order to get help for the troubled youngster however the system fell through.

On Mother’s Day weekend the teen killer would open fire with an automatic rifle killing his grandparents. Isaiah claimed that his grandfather was abusive and that is what led to the murders. This teen killer was initially sentenced to life in prison without parole however in a landmark case the Iowa Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional to sentence a juvenile to life in prison and his sentence was reduced. Isaiah Sweet was up for parole just four years after arriving at prison however it was denied.

Isaiah Sweet 2023 Information

NameIsaiah Richard Sweet
Offender Number6859998
SexM
Birth Date02/07/1995
LocationIowa State Penitentiary
OffenseMURDER 1ST DEGREE
TDD/SDD *LIFE
Commitment Date03/12/2014
Recall Date07/12/2020
Mandatory Minimum (if applicable)

Isaiah Sweet Other News

An Iowa man who pleaded guilty to murdering his grandparents as a teenager and won a landmark state Supreme Court case that prohibited life without parole for juveniles will remain behind bars.

Three Iowa Board of Parole members reviewed Isaiah R. Sweet’s file Thursday and found that he has made “a fairly good start” in his four years in prison by earning a career readiness certificate and completing some rehabilitative programming. But the board agreed with the Department of Corrections, which recommended Sweet not be released.

“I think more time would definitely be needed for him to make the kind of changes we would need to see before we would ever consider paroling someone,” said Board of Parole member Kathleen Kooiker.

Sweet, now 23, was 17 in 2012 when he murdered his custodial grandparents, Richard and Janet Sweet, with an assault rifle in their Manchester home. He told police that his grandfather was verbally abusive and “made his life a living hell.”

Sweet pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in 2013 and was sentenced the following year to life without parole.

But the Iowa Supreme Court in 2016 ruled that juveniles like Sweet who are convicted of murder cannot be given life sentences with no chance of parole, calling it a cruel and unusual punishment given a growing consensus among neuroscientists that teenagers’ brains have not fully developed, making them more likely to be influenced by peer pressure or impulses.

Sweet was resentenced later that year to life in prison with the possibility of parole. He is being held at the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison.

Thursday’s review was the first time the parole board has considered Sweet’s case. It lasted seven minutes and did not involve an interview with Sweet. His case will be reviewed on an annual basis going forward.

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Ruthann Veal Teen Killer Murders Elderly Woman

Ruthann Veal Teen Killer

Ruthann Veal was fourteen when she stabbed a woman to death. According to court documents Ruthann Veal had run away from the group home she was in and during an attempted robbery would stab the victim twenty three times causing her death. Initially Ruthann Veal was sentenced to life in prison without parole however it was later reduced to give her a shot at parole. However due to multiple discipline actions behind prison walls this teen killer has yet to be released

Ruthann Veal 2023 Information

NameRuthann Lidvina Veal
Offender Number1060781
SexF
Birth Date07/20/1978
LocationFifth Judicial District
OffenseMURDER 1ST DEGREE
TDD/SDD *LIFE
Commitment Date06/04/2021
Recall Date

Ruthann Veal Other News

The US Supreme Court issued a decision Monday about sentencing handed down to juvenile offenders. It ruled that mandatory life-without-parole sentences are unconstitutional for children 17 and under, because it violates the 8th amendment as “cruel and unusual” punishment.

The decision could impact a couple of major cases, including one tried in Waterloo almost 20 years ago.

Ruthann Veal was convicted of the 1993 murder of Catherine Haynes and sentenced to life-without-parole. While the Supreme Court ruling is no guarantee Veal could be eligible for release, it is possible.

And for those who vividly remember Veal’s brutal crime, it’s a tough thought to bear.

The 100 block of Lovejoy in Waterloo is now your typical quiet neighborhood. But nearly two decades ago, it was the site of a brutal crime.

66-year-old Catherine Haynes was stabbed 23 times in her Lovejoy Street home. Chris Murphy lived across the street from Haynes at the time and vividly recalls the ordeal.

“My husband and I were the last ones to see Catherine alive, except for Veal. It was just so shocking to hear such an innocent lady to be attacked so brutal,” said Murphy.

Just days after the murder, 14-year-old runaway Ruthann Veal was arrested, and then later convicted of killing Haynes. She was sentenced to life-without-parole.

In 2002, KWWL interviewed a then 23-year-old Veal at the Mitchellville Correctional Institute for Women.

“You’ve got to forgive yourself everyday you wake up,” said Veal in 2002.

At the time, Ruthann Veal also said she felt a life-without-parole sentence was too harsh for a teenager. But with the Supreme Court’s ruling Monday, Veal’s continuing legal fight could have new hope for parole release.

But Black Hawk County Attorney Tom Ferguson, who prosecuted the Vcase, says the high court’s ruling doesn’t guarantee anything. It only says states can’t mandate life-without-parole sentences for juveniles.

“It’s going to be some time before we sort this all out. It’s going to be sorted out through the courts. And, ultimately, I think will be sorted out somewhat through the legislature when we get some guidance from the courts on this decision’s impact on juveniles as well as our own Supreme Court’s decision on the impact of life without parole on juveniles,” Ferguson said.

For Chris Murphy, it’s unfathomable that Veal could ever be released after what happened on her old street all those years ago.

“I think she’ll kill again. So I would hope if she does come up for parole, she would not get it. But every time she’s eligible, we’d just be holding our breaths, ‘Is she going to get it? Is someone going to give it to her?’ Oh my gosh,” Murphy said.

Attorneys with the Equal Justice Initiative representing Ruth Ann Veal did not return our call.

Veal has a status hearing on her case on July 19th. County Attorney Tom Ferguson expects many of the issues brought forward with the Supreme Court’s ruling will take center stage at that hearing.

In addition to the Veal case, the Supreme Court’s ruling could also impact another Iowa teen convicted of murder.

Edgar Concepcion, Jr. was handed two life-sentences in the 2009 death of his three-year-old cousin. He was 14 when he killed the girl. In multiple appeals, his attorney’s argued that life without parole for a juvenile was “cruel and unusual” punishment.

Ruthann Veal More News

A three-member panel of the Iowa Board of Parole on Wednesday again denied parole to Ruthann Veal, who in 1993 was convicted of first-degree murder as a teenager.

The Iowa Department of Corrections had recommended that she not be released. Warden Sheryl Dahm of the Iowa Correctional Institution for Women in Mitchellville said Veal’s skills and behavior haven’t prepared her for life outside prison. 

“We have to see something in her where she’s not trying to navigate people, including staff, to help her get out of here,” said Dahm, who outlined a plan including changing Veal’s counselor and living arrangement, which she said would help better acclimate Veal to social and societal norms.

Veal, 40, was 14 when she stabbed to death and robbed Catherine Haynes of Waterloo, a 66-year-old retired University of Northern Iowa librarian. Veal was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, becoming Iowa’s youngest female convict serving an adult sentence.

But in 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court barred automatic life sentences without parole for juvenile murderers. The Iowa Supreme Court later called the sentences cruel and unusual punishment.

The decision to deny Veal parole came with a condition that if the Department of Corrections changes its recommendation to support parole for Veal within the next year, the board would agree to hold another hearing.

Jeff Wright, chair of the parole board, warned Veal that she must fully convince the department that she’s ready to be paroled before such a hearing could happen.

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2019/02/06/convicted-1993-killing-iowa-woman-sentenced-teen-denied-parole-ruthann-veal/2787542002/

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Tran Walker Teen Killer Murders 2 Teenagers

Tran Walker Teen Killer

Tran Walker was seventeen when he stabbed his ex girlfriend and his friend to death. According to court documents Tran Walker arranged to meet his ex girlfriend and when he arrived he would stab the young woman over fifty times, when his friend tried to intervene he was also fatally stabbed. This teen killer would be sentenced to life in prison

Tran Walker 2023 Information

NameTran Lee Walker
Offender Number6527265
SexM
Birth Date09/22/1999
LocationIowa Medical & Classification Center
OffenseMURDER 1ST DEGREE
TDD/SDD *LIFE
Commitment Date09/20/2019

Tran Walker Other News

The stepmother of a Sioux City teenager who was stabbed to death in early 2018 was in court today to speak directly to the 19-year-old found guilty of murdering her daughter.

Tran Walker of Sioux City was found guilty in August of killing his ex-girlfriend and a friend who tried to intervene. He was sentenced today to spend the rest of his life in prison.

Stevie Sullivan, the stepmother of 17-year-old Paiten Sullivan, delivered a victim impact statement in the courtroom — noting 19-year-old Felipe Negron, Jr. tried to defend her daughter when Walker started stabbing.

“To Felipe’s family, please know Felipe died a hero, our hero, and your loss is also our loss,” Stevie Sullivan said. “Other witnesses came to Paiten’s side as she took her last breath. It comforts our family to know complete strangers showed such love and compassion to Paiten. Thank you. You, too, are our heroes.”

Sullivan, the only member of either victim’s family to speak, then addressed Tran Walker.

“Your actions are wicked, foul, vile, deranged, sinister, vicious, malicious, monstrous, despicable, heinous, horrible, low-down, dirty, shady, warped, bent, crooked, dastardly and evil,” Sullivan said. “…You violently murdered two people by stabbing them to death — two people who were willing to be friends with you.”

Police say Walker, Sullivan and Negron were in a car when Walker became upset that Sullivan refused to start dating him again. He stabbed his ex-girlfriend 43 times. Negron suffered 17 stab wounds. Walker declined to speak at his sentencing.

Judge Tod Deck ordered Walker to pay $150,000 to each of his victim’s estates. A restitution hearing was set for next January 24.

Mother of 17-year-old stabbed to death calls perpetrator ‘evil’

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The list of adjectives Stevie Sullivan used to describe Tran Walker’s actions the night he killed her stepdaughter and a friend was lengthy and included words such as “despicable” and “dastardly.”

“Tran Walker, you are an evil individual,” Sullivan said.

Walker will have the rest of his life to contemplate Sullivan’s words. District Judge Tod Deck on Friday sentenced Walker, who will turn 20 on Sunday, to a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole for the Jan. 28, 2018, stabbing deaths of ex-girlfriend Paiten Sullivan and their friend Felipe Negron Jr. Deck found Walker guilty on Aug. 1 of two counts of first-degree murder.

Walker did not speak at sentencing, saying only “no” when asked by Deck if he had anything to say before he was sentenced.

“I certainly hope that to whatever extent it’s possible, Mr. Walker, you use your time in prison to better yourself,” said Deck, who presided over the trial in May after Walker waived his right to a jury trial.

The families of Sullivan and Negron, through a victim advocate, declined to comment on the sentence. After Walker’s verdict was announced last month, they had thanked everyone involved in the case for the role they played in leading to a conviction.

Public defender Jennifer Solberg said she “absolutely” would appeal the verdict. She declined further comment.

Walker and Sullivan, 17, had dated on and off in the months prior to the stabbing. On the night of the murder, mutual friend Negron, 18, drove Sullivan to meet Walker, whom First Assistant Woodbury County Attorney Mark Campbell said was out for revenge after Sullivan told him she was not in love with him and did not want to date him anymore.

https://siouxcityjournal.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/tran-walker-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-for-fatally-stabbing/article_602c0c8b-dd91-5a56-80ac-54e661cfb6cb.html

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Noah Crooks Teen Killer Murders Mother

Noah Crooks

Noah Crooks was thirteen years old when he murdered his mother. This teen killer would shoot his mother over twenty times causing her death. When asked about what his punishment should be for killing his mother he said he thought he would be grounded. Needless to say the judge did not feel the same way and sentenced the teen to fifty years in prison

Noah Crooks 2023 Information

Name:

Noah Riley Crooks

Offender Number:

6049684

Sex:

M

Birth Date:

07/29/1998

Location:

Fort Dodge Correctional Facility

Offense:

MURDER – 2ND DEGREE, 85%

TDD/SDD *:

12/16/2034

Commitment Date:

05/09/2016

Recall Date:

05/11/2024

Most Recent Board Decision

Decision Type:

RD

Decision:

No release at this time – review in 12 months

Decision Date:

04/11/2023

Effective Date:

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An Osage teen said he didn’t consider the consequences of shooting his mother 22 times in 2012, killing her.

“I didn’t think anything would happen. I thought I would maybe get grounded,” Noah Crooks, who was 13 at the time of the slaying, would later say during a meeting with his father and counselors after he was found guilty of second-degree murder.

Instead, a judge sentenced Noah Crooks to 50 years in prison when he turned 18 in 2016, and on Friday the Iowa Supreme Court upheld the punishment.

Crooks, now 19 and eligible for parole, challenged the district court’s handling of the case, arguing it shouldn’t have been prosecuted under the state’s youthful offender statutes, which allowed the juvenile court to transfer the case to adult court.

He also argued the sentence amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.

In its decision, the Iowa Supreme Court noted that Iowa’s youthful offender law allows the court to track a youth’s progress before deciding any prison sentence. In this case, the court had about five years to track Crooks.

The high court ruled the sentencing court acted within its discretion by imposing the 50-year term, noting a psychologist who examined Crooks in 2012 opined he wasn’t capable of experiencing guilt and remorse. The psychologist concluded there was no treatment that could change his personality traits, and the prospects of rehabilitation before age 18 were nil.

Authorities said Crooks killed his mother, Gretchen, on March 24, 2012, at their home in rural Osage. He approached her once with a .22-caliber rifle while she was making dinner but decided against shooting her then because it wouldn’t have been honorable to shoot her in the back, court records state.

A short time later, he shot her as she sat on a couch. He then sent a text message to his father, who was away at a work-related party, saying he accidentally killed his mother, but his father thought it was a joke.

Crooks then called 911 to report the shooting and express concerns for his own future. He was convicted for second-degree murder during a 2013 and turned over to the State Training School in Eldora until he turned 18 and went before a district court judge for sentencing in 2016.

During his time in Eldora, he avoided addressing the reason behind the slaying. Before the sentencing his father confronted him during a meeting with counselors, and Crooks responded he “thought we would be better off without her,” court records state.

At the May 2016 sentencing hearing, Crooks’ father, William Crooks, said he visited his son several times at Eldora, pushing him to talk about his mother. “In the past four years, you have never once spoken about your mother. You have shown no remorse.

“Four years is not enough to pay for taking your mother’s life. I’m sorry; I love you, Noah, but to let you out would ruin so many more lives.”

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An Osage teen said he didn’t consider the consequences of shooting his mother 22 times in 2012, killing her.

“I didn’t think anything would happen. I thought I would maybe get grounded,” Noah Riley Crooks, who was 13 at the time of the slaying, would later say during a meeting with his father and counselors after he was found guilty of second-degree murder.

Instead, a judge sentenced Noah Crooks to 50 years in prison when he turned 18 in 2016, and on Friday the Iowa Supreme Court upheld the punishment.

Crooks, now 19 and eligible for parole, challenged the district court’s handling of the case, arguing it shouldn’t have been prosecuted under the state’s youthful offender statutes, which allowed the juvenile court to transfer the case to adult court.

He also argued the sentence amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.

In its decision, the Iowa Supreme Court noted that Iowa’s youthful offender law allows the court to track a youth’s progress before deciding any prison sentence. In this case, the court had about five years to track Crooks.

The high court ruled the sentencing court acted within its discretion by imposing the 50-year term, noting a psychologist who examined Crooks in 2012 opined he wasn’t capable of experiencing guilt and remorse. The psychologist concluded there was no treatment that could change his personality traits, and the prospects of rehabilitation before age 18 were nil.

Authorities said Noah Crooks killed his mother, Gretchen, on March 24, 2012, at their home in rural Osage. He approached her once with a .22-caliber rifle while she was making dinner but decided against shooting her then because it wouldn’t have been honorable to shoot her in the back, court records state.

A short time later, he shot her as she sat on a couch. He then sent a text message to his father, who was away at a work-related party, saying he accidentally killed his mother, but his father thought it was a joke.

Noah Crooks then called 911 to report the shooting and express concerns for his own future. He was convicted for second-degree murder during a 2013 and turned over to the State Training School in Eldora until he turned 18 and went before a district court judge for sentencing in 2016.

During his time in Eldora, he avoided addressing the reason behind the slaying. Before the sentencing his father confronted him during a meeting with counselors, and Noah Crooks responded he “thought we would be better off without her,” court records state.

At the May 2016 sentencing hearing, Crooks’ father, William Crooks, said he visited his son several times at Eldora, pushing him to talk about his mother. “In the past four years, you have never once spoken about your mother. You have shown no remorse.

“Four years is not enough to pay for taking your mother’s life. I’m sorry; I love you, Noah, but to let you out would ruin so many more lives.”

https://wcfcourier.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/court-upholds-murder-sentence-for-13-year-old-who-thought-hed-get-grounded-for-killing/article_7f96e6ef-d7ab-5988-bfc8-0734fd81bbdf.html

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Noah Crooks current release date is 2039