A jury in eastern Iowa, Monday, found a central Iowa man guilty in the deaths of two Guthrie County girls. According to KCCI, 27-year old Patrick Ryan Thompson, of Story County, was convicted on two felony charges of Murder in the 1^st degree and one felony charge of arson, in the May 2017 Guthrie Center deaths of Thompson’s 12-year-old stepsister, Paige Exline, and her 16-year-old cousin, Shakiah Cockerham, both of whom died in the blaze.

The first trial last month ended in a mistrial. The judge took the action after someone started loudly discussing the case with prospective jurors while the judge and lawyers were outside the courtroom. The trial had been moved out of Guthrie County because of pretrial publicity. It took the jury in Albia 11 days and two hours to find Thompson guilty of all charges against him. Prosecutors said he started the fire to prevent Exline from testifying that she had been sexually abused by her father.

Thompson will receive a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

The National Weather Service says strong to severe thunderstorms are possible during the afternoon through evening hours today across mostly eastern and parts of southern Iowa, with damaging winds and a few tornadoes are the main threats. Most of these storms should weaken by 11 pm. However, the heavy rain threat will persist through today and tonight before the rain eventually ends on Wednesday morning.

Excessive rainfall is expected in a large swath of the state from Mason City and Decorah southwestward, to the southeast quarter of Fremont County. Cities included in the path of heavy rain include Waterloo, Ames, Marshalltown, Des Moines, Osceola and Lamoni.

The southeastern half of Cass and Guthrie Counties and all of Adair, Adams, Madison, Union, Taylor and Ringgold Counties, can also expect heavy rain today, causing ponding of water on roads and localized flash flooding along with extensive overland flooding.

(Radio Iowa) — A state audit report on the county district court clerk offices raises questions about several procedures and make recommendations on how to improve their operations. Deputy State Auditor Andy Nielson says the concerns centered on the segregation of duties in the offices. “We also made some comments to strengthen controls over cash receipts, cash disbursements and financial reporting,” Nielson says. Nielson says many of these issues are not new and it is an issue with the size of staff. “In some cases it’s just that they’re small enough that they don’t have enough redundancy to accomplish those things — and obviously you’re not going to hire individuals just for segregation of duties — so sometimes you have to live with those,” Nielson says.

He says the Judicial Branch which oversees the 99 county offices is trying to address the concerns, but it is important to keep detailing them each year in the audit. “The reason why we keep commenting on those items is that it is something that management needs to be aware of so that they are doing some other procedures to be able to make sure that there aren’t some things that’re going on behind the scenes,” Nielson says. Nielson says a good example is a program used to delete case files. “The significance there is there are some employees who have access to a case delete program,” Nielson says, “The reason why that is dangerous is if someone were to want to hide something — basically all they have to do is delete the case and there is no backup — it’s just gone.”

Nielson says it’s again a case where some offices don’t have enough employees to follow through on policies requiring a written order to delete a case. Nielson says the small size of some clerk of courts offices will continue to be an issue that has to be addressed. He says small cities run into many of the same problems. “It does put more onus on the management of the city — or in this case the judicial districts — to be able to follow up and make sure that the things that are supposed to work do work,” according to Nielson. “The Judicial Department does have a good internal audit presence and I know that they work on things as well. And they are using personnel from different clerks offices to review reconciliation and those types of thing. So, they do have independent people working on reconciliation.”

MUSCATINE, Iowa (AP) — A March trial has been scheduled for an Iowa grandmother charged with killing a man in 1992. Muscatine County court records say 55-year-old Annette Cahill, of Tipton, has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. Authorities say she used a baseball bat to kill 22-year-old Corey Wieneke. He was found dead on the floor of his bedroom in rural West Liberty in October 1992.

Police have said Cahill had been in a sexual relationship with Wieneke and that they had a heated argument about his involvement with another woman. A witness came forward last year, saying Cahill had implicated herself in the death in 1992, prompting authorities to re-examine the case.

Cahill is now a mother of three adult children and a grandmother of four. Her trial is set to begin March 4.

Two people were injured during an accident that occurred a little after 7-a.m. Monday, in Creston. Authorities say a 2000 Chevy Blazer driven by 19-year old Nathaniel L. Fletchall, of Mt. Ayr, was traveling west on Taylor Street in Creston, and was making a left turn with a green light onto Sumner Street, when the SUV struck an eastbound  2015 Chevy Equinox driven by 60-year old Jane A. Briley, of Creston. Briley also had a green light at the intersection.

Fletchall suffered suspected, serious injuries, but was not transported to the hospital. Briley was transported to the Greater Regional Medical Center in Creston by ground EMS, for treatment of suspected, minor injuries. Police cited Fletchall for Failure to Yield upon making a left turn, and failure to provide proof of insurance, accident related. Authorities said speed was a factor in the crash. Damage to the vehicles amounted to $5,000.

Fremont County Sheriff Kevin Aistrope reports the Fremont County K9 Unit, Monday night, arrested 67-year old Michael Tiemeyer, of Hamburg. Tiemeyer was arrested at his residence on a valid Fremont County Warrant for Delivery of Methamphetamine. He was transported to the Fremont County Law Enforcement Center and held pending an initial appearance before the magistrate, with further charges pending.

Mike Tiermeyer

The narcotics investigation is still ongoing, as Sheriff Aistrope expects more arrests following the investigation.

For the third time in less than two-days, officials with the Iowa Department of Corrections have reported yet another Work Release escape.

Antonietta Llyod

The DOC said late Monday night, that 33-year old Antonietta Patrizza Lloyd, who was convicted of Robbery 2nd Degree and other crimes in Polk County, failed to report back to the Des Moines Women’s Residential Correctional Center as required earlier in the day, Monday. Lloyd is a white (Hispanic) female, height 5’5″ tall, and weighs 159 pounds. She was admitted to the work release facility on June 5, 2018.  Persons with information on Lloyd’s whereabouts should contact local police.

Earlier in the day, Monday, authorities said 40-year old Felix Gomez, convicted of Domestic Abuse Assault, 3rd or Subsequent Offense and other crimes in Polk County, failed to report back to the Fort Des Moines Residential Facility as required Sunday night.  Gomez is a white (Hispanic) male, 5-feet eight-inches tall, weighing 263 pounds. He was admitted to the work release facility on July 24, 2018.  Persons with information on Gomez’s whereabouts should contact local police.

On Sunday, the Iowa DOC reported 22-year old Devin Kesean Dock also failed to return to the Ft. Des Moines Residential Facility. Dock is a black male, 5-feet 10-inches tall, and weighs 236 pounds. He was admitted to the work release facility on September 10, 2018.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:40 a.m. CDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Bernie Sanders is embarking on a nine-state tour on behalf of Democratic candidates competing in the November elections, returning to the campaign trail ahead of a decision on another White House bid. The packed October schedule will be the Vermont independent’s most extensive stretch of campaigning since the 2016 presidential race.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Farm states are looking to benefit from a Trump administration plan to allow year-round sales of gasoline with a higher blend of ethanol. President Donald Trump is expected to announce he’s lifting a federal ban on summer sales of high-ethanol blends while in Iowa for a rally Tuesday night in Council Bluffs. Advocates for the ethanol industry say claims that the high-ethanol blend contributes to smog on hot days is unfounded.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Voting has started for this year’s general election in Iowa where voters will choose among candidates in competitive races for governor, five other statewide offices and the state’s four congressional seats. Politicians also are competing for votes in 19 Iowa Senate districts and more than 70 in the Iowa House.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A suspect in a western Iowa slaying has surrendered. Police say 69-year-old Kenneth Still Jr. turned himself in Monday morning at the Pottawattamie County Courthouse. He’s charged with first-degree murder and a weapons crime in the Sunday afternoon shooting of 21-year-old Devon Theisen, of Council Bluffs. Online court records don’t list the name of an attorney who could comment for Still.

The Page County Sheriff’s Office says no injuries were reported following a single-vehicle accident about three-miles southeast of Clarinda, early Sunday morning. Authorities say 29-year old Jered David Havener, of Clarinda, was driving a 2013 Ford F-150 pickup southbound on Vine Avenue, north of 240th, when he swerved to miss a deer. The pickup entered the west ditch and struck a field entrance before going airborne and coming to rest in the west ditch.

The accident, which was reported at around 6:50-a.m., Sunday, actually occurred sometime between 2:30-and 6:50-a.m. Damage to the pickup was estimated at $6,000. No charges have been filed.

Emergency crews in Cass County were called to the scene of a single-vehicle accident off 690th Street near Lansing Road (south of Wiota), at around 5:51-p.m. Dispatch reports indicated a woman and child were in a vehicle and said to be conscious and breathing, but the woman had suffered a head injury and was transported to the Cass County Memorial Hospital, in Atlantic.

No other details are currently available.