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Authorities arrest grandson in slaying of 84-year-old man

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November 10th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

ROCK VALLEY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have arrested a grandson of an 84-year-old man whose body was found by firefighters in northwest Iowa. The Rock Valley Police Department said in a news release Friday that 19-year-old Santos Rodriguez Jr. is charged with first-degree murder and arson in the slaying of Luis Luevanos. The older man’s body was found Oct. 29 after firefighters extinguished the blaze at the home he shared with Rodriguez. Investigators have since learned that Luevanos had been stabbed several times.

Police say Rodriguez left for Utah after the fire and was taken into custody there. Iowa investigators went to Utah to interview him, and police say Rodriguez admitted stabbing his grandfather and setting the fire. Court records don’t list an attorney who could comment for Rodriguez, who remains for now in Utah.