(Radio Iowa) – A jury in Keokuk County has found a Grinnell man guilty of first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse. Thirty-one-year-old Steven Vogel was charged in the killing of 44-year-old Michael Williams of Grinnell. William’s aunt, Paula Terrell, talked with reporters after Tuesday’s verdict and says she considers his killing a lynching.  “It’s putting that rope around his neck and holding it for over six minutes, causing his death, is the definition of a hanging. A lynching. A white man lynched a black man over a white woman.” Terrell said.

Investigators have said they do not believe the killing was racially motivated. Terrell says she’s thankful for the guilty verdict. But she still believes this was a hate crime.  “The hate crime law here is very weak. And so we will continue to fight for that even after this verdict,” Terrell said. “Because there was a lot of hatred involved. The medical examiner talked about how he was hung.”

Vogel is scheduled to be sentenced on December 13th.

Des Moines, Iowa – The U-S Attorney’s Office reports 46-year old Marlin Santana Thomas, of Des Moines, was sentenced Monday to life in prison for sex trafficking six victims by force, fraud, and coercion.  Thomas was ordered to pay $600 to the Crime Victims’ Fund and a restitution hearing was set for February 7, 2022.

Thomas pleaded guilty to sex trafficking six adult victims and admitted to trafficking a 14- year-old victim on May 12, 2021. He admitted in his plea agreement to trafficking victims beginning in 2009, and as recently as February 28, 2018, when he was arrested as part of a separate federal drug investigation, for which he is currently serving a term of federal imprisonment.

At sentencing, Des Moines Police Department Sergeant Brady Carney testified that he had interviewed an additional 11 women who Thomas had raped, attempted to sex traffic, and/or physical assaulted. In the plea agreement, Thomas admitted using physical violence against all six adult victims to coerce them to engage in commercial sex acts, including punching one victim in the face and assaulting another in her home after she told Thomas she was done working for him.

Thomas admitted to knowing one victim was a heroin addict and using her addiction to coerce her into engaging in commercial sex acts. Thomas also admitted to arranging for a 14-year-old to engage in commercial sex acts, knowing that she was not yet 18 years old.

He admitted to posting online escort advertisements of victims transporting them to hotels and motels in Iowa as well as Illinois, Missouri, and North Dakota, and keeping the proceeds from the commercial sex acts. Thomas targeted vulnerable women, including approaching women living at residential treatment centers, providing drugs to women struggling with addiction, and feigning romantic interest. He assaulted, raped, and stalked victims who did not comply.

Hotel receipts, police reports, phone records, online escort ads, medical records, photographs, and witnesses verified the victim’s accounts. The United States presented victim impact statements on behalf of six women, recounting the harm inflicted by Thomas and its lasting effects.

Anyone who suspects human trafficking is occurring, be it a minor engaging in paid sex acts, or anyone being coerced into prostitution or labor, is urged to call the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.

(Radio Iowa) – An annual report from the American Lung Association shows Iowa ranks below the national average for survival rates, early diagnosis and surgical treatment of lung cancer. Alyssa DePhillips is with the American Lung Association. She says the data also shows that among racial groups, black Iowans are the last likely to receive surgical treatment.

“They may decide to opt out of treatment because their disease has progressed far,” she says, “but we don’t want people to be forgoing treatment because of lack of access to care, their provider not knowing about cutting edge treatments or stigma associated with lung cancer and the cost.” DePhillips says the one category Iowa ranked above the national average for is lung cancer screenings.

“Iowa is doing a lot in this state to try to increase the rates of people that are screened for lung cancer because the sooner people get screened, the sooner they can receive treatment,” she says, “and the more likely that surgery would be a treatment option.” The report found 11 percent of Iowans who are at higher risk of developing lung cancer were screened in the past year. That’s almost double the national average.

Only one out of five Iowans who are diagnosed with lung cancer are alive five years after learning they have the disease.

(Reporting by Iowa Public Radio’s Natalie Krebs)

(Harlan, Iowa) – The Harlan Police Department reports two recent arrests. On Monday (11/15), 30-year-old Justin Van Carver, of Harlan, was arrested for Possession of Drug paraphernalia. And, on Nov. 9th, 52-year-old Marlene Eleanor Anderson, of Ralston, IA, was arrested on an active Carroll County warrant.