Iowa court overturns Dubuque man’s murder conviction
December 11th, 2020 by Ric Hanson
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court has ordered a new trial for a Dubuque man who was sentenced to 50 years in prison on a second-degree murder conviction for the death of his girlfriend. Fontae Buelow claims Samantha Link turned a knife on herself in an act of suicide after an argument in March 2017. Prosecutors alleged he stabbed her and charged him with first-degree murder. A jury convicted him of second-degree murder in January 2018. The court’s ruling upholds an appeals court decision last year that threw out the conviction because the trial judge did not allow information about Link’s prior suicide attempt and mental health records that may have supported Buelow’s contention that Link stabbed herself.