COON RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) – A west-central Iowa man has offered $500 to help catch whoever vandalized a memorial to his son who was slain in Afghanistan while serving with the U.S. Army.
Des Moines television station KCCI reports that hollowed-out egg shells filled with pink paint were thrown at the memorial over the weekend. The memorial sits just a few steps from the Coon Rapids shop of Dave Muhr (moor), who built the memorial to honor his youngest son, Shawn. The soldier was killed in January 2011 by a roadside bomb.

Shawn Muhr graduated Coon Rapids-Bayard High School in 2003 and joined the Army in 2005. Police say they found several street signs vandalized in a similar manner with pink paint, so they don’t believe the vandal or vandals specifically targeted the memorial.

The Montgomery County Sheriff’s office reports two people were arrested Wednesday on separate charges. Just before 10-p.m., 31-year old Marcus John Josephson, of Red Oak, was arrested on charges stemming from an accident that took place March 18th, in Red Oak. Josephson faces a charge of OWI/Drugged-1st offense. He was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $1,000 bond.

And, at around 9:30-p.m., 37-year old Justin James Smith, of Villisca, was arrested on a Domestic Abuse/Simple Assault charge, following an investigation into an incident that took place in the 100 block of North 4th Avenue in Villisca. Smith was being held without bond in the Montgomery County Jail.

A California woman claims her teenage son was being held against his will at a home in central Iowa. It’s lead to a search warrant and six arrests. The Marshall County Sheriff’s Department received a call alerting them that a 16-year-old boy had allegedly been compelled by threats and deception to stay at a residence in LeGrand in eastern Marshall County for the last two weeks.

Reportedly, the boy was able to slip away and contact his mother, deputies located him, took him into protective custody and interviewed him. The home was alleged to be a den of drug use and sales with the presence of firearms. Information provided eventually lead to two arrests via a traffic stop and four more after a search warrant was issued. Three other children were taken into protective custody.

(Radio Iowa)

BOONE, Iowa (AP) – A videotaped interview with Iowa police officers reveals that a Georgia man admitted he killed his former roommate in 2009. The video that aired in court Wednesday shows 55-year-old John Green talking with Sac City authorities in 2014 after they tracked him to Florida. Green is charged with first-degree murder in the death of 58-year-old Mark Koster, of Sac City.

During the interview, Green told police that he was watching a show on his computer when Koster came at him with a baseball bat, angry over how Green had prepared their dinner. Green said he then strangled Koster out of self-defense. Koster was declared missing in 2010. His remains were found buried in the basement of his home after new owners began renovations.