(Radio Iowa) — The Iowa Insurance Division has issued a cease and desist order against the owner of funeral homes in Emmetsburg and Graettinger. Division spokesman, Chance McElhaney says the order involves pre-sales.”The Iowa Insurance Division has ordered Andrew Joyce of Joyce Funeral Home (Emmetsburg) and Joyce-Alesch Funeral Home (Graettinger) to cease and desist acting as a pre-need seller or as a sales agent,” McElhaney says.

McElhaney says Joyce has used deceptive and fraudulent activities in handling the sales. “You have to place the funds in trust as required by Iowa law,” McElhaney says, “Some of those funds have been co-mingled with personal and unrelated expenses. You can’t sell these things without a license and that was found to have happened. There’s other violations here.” McElhaney says they are seeking help in determining how many people are involved.

“The Iowa Insurance Division is looking for folks who may’ve purchased or otherwise worked with Andrew Joyce, Joyce-Alesch, Joyce Funeral Home, and they believe that they have pre-need funeral arrangements. We want to make sure that folks that may’ve done business — that we are aware of it.” He says they have sent out letters to those who they know were working with the two funeral homes.

This latest action follows a recent request for a receivership to try and protect the funds that are held in trust by the funeral homes.

MONTEZUMA, Iowa (AP) — Part of the case against a former farmhand charged with first-degree murder in the killing of 20-year-old University of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts appears to be in jeopardy because an officer failed to properly read him his Miranda rights.

Prosecutors have agreed to exclude at trial some statements that 25-year-old Cristhian Bahena Rivera made to police, the Des Moines Register reported . Court documents prosecutors filed Friday acknowledge that the initial Miranda warning given to Rivera around 11:30 p.m. on Aug. 20, 2018, was incomplete because the officer “inadvertently” failed to inform Rivera that anything he said could be used against him in court.
His Miranda rights were accurately read to him a second time at 5:50 a.m. the following day as police were in a cornfield where Tibbetts’ body was found.

Tibbetts disappeared while out for a run July 18, 2018, in Brooklyn, Iowa. Investigators recovered her body a month later. She had been stabbed to death. Prosecutors agree in their filings Friday that any statements Rivera made between 11:30 p.m. and 5:50 a.m. should be suppressed but argue they should be able to use those statements to rebut testimony. Defense attorneys for Rivera want the statements fully suppressed.

Chief Deputy Attorney General Eric Tabor on Friday declined to comment or answer questions about which of Rivera’s statements would be excluded from trial evidence. Police have said Rivera led them to Tibbetts’ body after confessing during a lengthy interrogation to following Tibbetts in his car, getting out on foot and chasing after her. Rivera told investigators that he panicked after Tibbetts threatened to call police on her cellphone. Police said Rivera told investigators he blacked out and later came to when he was unloading her bloody body from the trunk of his car.

Rivera is set to appear in court Oct. 22, when a judge will decide what evidence will be allowed at his trial, which is set to start in February.

DES MOINES, Iowa — The Division of Criminal Investigation’s (DCI) Major Crimes Unit said Friday afternoon, they are continuing to investigate an officer-involved shooting that took place late Thursday night, in Stuart. Authorities say once the investigation is complete, the DCI will provide the Adair County Attorney’s Office with all reports, evidence, and body camera video collected as part of this investigation. This process may take several weeks to complete.

Authorities investigate the scene after multiple law enforcement officers were shot Thursday, Oct. 17, 2019 in Stuart, Iowa. A man opened fire on sheriff’s deputies serving a warrant at a central Iowa apartment complex overnight, wounding two of them and setting off a gunbattle in which he, too, was wounded, authorities said Friday. (Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Des Moines Register via AP)

At this time, the DCI is releasing the following information concerning the shooting investigation:

On October 17, 2019, at approximately 10:40 p.m., Guthrie County Deputy Kent Gries, Guthrie County Deputy Steven Henry, Guthrie County Deputy Jim Mink, and Stuart Police Officer Tyler DeFrancisco attempted to serve an arrest warrant on 52-year old Randall Comly at 615 SW 7th Street, Apartment #1, in Stuart. The law enforcement officers were attempting to arrest Comly on outstanding felony warrants.

The officers knocked on the apartment door, where they were met by an adult male, not Randall Comly. The officers entered the apartment, and while searching for Comly, the officers were met with gunfire. The officers returned fire. In the exchange of gunfire two deputies sustained non-life threatening gunshot wounds and a third deputy sustained a gunpowder burn. Comly sustained a non-life threatening gunshot wound. All those injured were transported to Des Moines hospitals. Also inside the apartment at the time of the shooting were two adult females, neither of which was injured.

More than 50 police officers, deputies, and troopers responded to the report of shots fired. Arriving officers were able to secure the area, evacuate neighbors, negotiate a peaceful ending to the incident, and take Comly into custody. He is currently is in law enforcement custody at a Des Moines Hospital on outstanding warrants. No criminal charges have been filed related to this shooting.

Deputy Kent Gries is a 13-year veteran of the Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office. Deputy Steven Henry is a seven-year veteran of the Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office. Deputy Jim Mink is a five-year veteran of the Guthrie County Sheriff’s Office. Officer Tyler DeFrancisco has one year of service with the Stuart Police Department.