Council Bluffs Police say Officers responding to report of possible drugs being found in a motel room, located the suspected drugs, along with a suspected explosive material. Police were called to the American Inn at 2717 S. 24th Street at around 1:30-p.m., after maintenance workers entered the abandoned room formerly occupied by 23-year old Kelly Sue Rickard, of Council Bluffs.

kelly-sue-rickard

All occupants of the building were evacuated for their safety. The room was cleared of all explosive material by members of the Pottawattamie County/City of Council Bluufs Bomb Squad. Neighboring motel guests were allowed to return to their rooms as officers executed a search warrant.

Kelly Rickard returned to the motel while officers were conducting the search. She was arrested on charges that include Possession with Intent, Possession of Explosive Material, Possession of Drug Paraphernalia, and a Drug Tax Stamp Violation. Rickard was transported to the Pottawattamie County Jail.

Officials with the Iowa Department of Public Safety, Friday afternoon released the names of those persons who died and were injured when a pickup truck crashed into the Pella Wal-Mart Store, Thursday morning. Authorities say at around 9:54-a.m., a silver Ford F-150 pickup truck crashed through the Market and Pharmacy entrance of the Walmart store in Pella and killed three people.

The Pella Police Department, Pella Fire and EMS, Iowa State Patrol and other law enforcement agencies responded to the crash scene. Upon arriving at the scene, it was determined that three people were killed and two were injured in the crash, one of those injured is the driver of the truck. The conditions of the two injured are not known at this time.

Those who died in the crash were identified as 31-year old Carrie Zugg, a Walmart employee from Leighton, IA, 29-year old Lindsey Rietveld, a Walmart employee from Bussey, IA, and 76-year old Ruth Jean DeJong, a shopper, from Pella. Injured in the crash was the driver of the pickup, 66-year old Dennis Mockenhaupt, from Knoxville, and 77-year old Robert DeJong, a shopper, from Pella.

Autopsies on the deceased individuals will be conducted next week at the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner in Ankeny. The investigation into the crash is on-going, and is being conducted by: the Pella Police Department; the Iowa Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI); Iowa State Patrol (ISP); Pella Fire and EMS; Marion County Sheriff’s Office; Knoxville Police Department, and Knoxville Fire Department.

The Audubon County Sheriff’s Office announced Friday that they are investigating a case of vandalism at the Oakfield Cemetery, east of Brayton.  The damage is believed to have happened within the past couple of weeks. A head stone was knocked over and several vases were damaged on other stones.  The amount of damage is unknown at this time. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact the Audubon County Sheriff’s Office at 712-563-2631 or Audubon County Crimestoppers at 712-563-2234.

An investigation into a disturbance during the early morning hours of Nov. 24th in Council Bluffs, has resulted in charges that include Attempted Murder. 33-year old Edward L. Sanders, of Council Bluffs, was initially arrested for Intimidation with a Dangerous Weapon, after he fired one round from a weapon in the direction of a group of individuals who were involved with Edwards in the disturbance that took place on the Street in the 400 block of Houston Avenue in Council Bluffs, at around 2:45-a.m. Nov. 24th.

Witnesses told police during the incident, Edwards went into his nearby home and emerged with a handgun he displayed before firing the weapon. As detectives continued to investigate the incident, they were able to locate a handgun, which had been hidden in a wooded area, behind Sanders’ residence.

Investigators were also able to verify that Sanders is a convicted felon. Sanders is currently being held at the Pottawattamie County Jail on charges of Attempted Murder, and Felon in Possession of a Firearm, in addition to the original Intimidation charge.

Edward L. Sanders

(Corrects victims’ name)

The Iowa Court of Appeals, in a decision reached November 9th, reversed a November 2014 1st degree murder conviction and the Jan. 21st, 2015 sentencing of an Oakland man to life in prison, for the April 8th, 2014 murder of a woman in his home. Robert Reynolds had appealed his 1st Degree murder conviction without the possibility of parole, objecting to the trial venue and makeup of the jury pool. The Court of Appeals determined the Trial Court erroneously changed the venue of Reynold’s trial. The Justices ruled therefore that Reynolds is entitled to a new trial, and ordered his case be heard before a new jury.

His appeal regarding the jury pool, contended the court drew from persons solely from eastern Pottawattamie County, the same area where the murder took place. He argued his Sixth Amendment right was violated by the District Court’s failure to have a fairer cross section of the community. He said also, if Pottawattamie County is still a divided judicial district, then the District Court was wrong to change the venue from Avoca to Council Bluffs without following the requirements of the Iowa Rule of Criminal Procedure.

Reynolds also argued a jailhouse phone call – during which he admitted to someone named “Bobby,” that he “Killed a woman” —  should not have been admitted into evidence because the State failed to lay the proper foundation. The Appeals Court said State did however lay the proper foundation for the recording’s admission into evidence.

On Nov. 21st, 2014 Reynolds was convicted by a jury in connection with the early morning shooting of Patricia Kincaid-Dorsey in Reynolds’ Oakland home. Kinkade-Dorsey was a friend of Robert Reynolds’ wife Theresa, and was staying at the house prior to departing for California.

The Iowa Supreme Court could reverse the Appeals Court, but if that doesn’t happen, Reynolds will get a new trial.No new trial date has been set. The link to the Appeals Court decision can be found here: http://www.iowacourts.gov/About_the_Courts/Court_of_Appeals/Court_of_Appeals_Opinions/Recent_Opinions/20161109/15-0226.pdf?search=No%2E+15%2D0226#_1