(KNOD – Harlan) Three men were sentenced Monday and Tuesday in connection with the January murder of 38-year-old Council Bluffs man Adam Angeroth. 20 year old Nicholas Haner of Harlan, 21 year old Liam Stec of Omaha and 25 year old Ryan McDonald of Glenwood were each sentenced to 50 years in prison by Fourth Judicial District Judge Michael Hooper, after pleading guilty to second-degree murder charges. Haner and Stec were sentenced Tuesday, while McDonald appeared in court Monday.

Angeroth was found dead in his apartment at 35 N. First Street on Jan. 24. No one had seen him for several days. An autopsy revealed signs of blunt force trauma and knife wounds to Angeroth’s body. According to court records, Haner thought that Angeroth had him arrested on Jan. 18, which, according to Pottawattamie County District Attorney Matt Wilber, was unfounded. The trio was initially charged with first-degree murder, a Class A felony that is punishable by a mandatory sentence of life in prison, but the charges were amended to accommodate plea deals that the state, the defendants and the victim’s family were all amenable to, according to Wilber.

Wilber, along with investigators who worked the case, believed that Haner was the ringleader of the group. The fact that Haner received the same sentence as his co-defendants didn’t sit well with Wilber. All three men are required to serve at least 70 percent of the 50-year terms — a minimum of 35 years — before they will be eligible for release or parole. The fourth and final defendant in the case is Xavier Smith-Catchings, of Omaha. Smith-Catchings was 15 at the time the murder occurred, and is now 16. He will be tried as an adult. Wilber said he expects a resolution to that case to be forthcoming, but is unsure when.

(Radio Iowa) — Two people are dead following separate collisions in eastern Iowa. A pedestrian died after being hit by a vehicle in Dubuque County,Tuesday afternoon. The accident happened south of Epworth on Placid Road, shortly after 4:30 PM. The Dubuque County Sheriff’s Office says an 80-year old Epworth man was driving north when he struck an 82-year old woman crossing the road. The woman died as a result of her injuries. The names of those involved are expected to be released later today. The incident remains under investigation.

And, law officers in eastern Iowa are searching for a vehicle with front end damage after a bicyclist was hit and killed on Monday.The Muscatine Police and State Patrol are asking for anyone with information about the accident to come forward. The victim is identified as 49-year-old Devin Estabrook, of Letts. Estabrook was riding his bicycle early Monday about 5 A-M on Highway 61 in Muscatine when he was struck — and the vehicle didn’t stop. Estabrook was a firefighter in the Grandview Fire Department.

(Updated) — PAPILLION, Neb. (AP) — A man already sentenced to prison for firing at Iowa officers during a chase has been given Nebraska prison time for his crimes in that state.
William Stanfill III was sentenced Tuesday at the Sarpy County (Nebraska) Courthouse in Papillion, to 30 to 45 years. The Omaha World-Herald reported that he’d pleaded guilty in June to attempted assault of an officer, two counts of felony assault and two weapons crimes. Prosecutors dropped nine other charges in exchange for his pleas.

Stanfill fired at a man who’d chased him after he sped through the man’s Bellevue, Nebraska, neighborhood on April 24 last year, authorities said. Stanfill later shot and lightly wounded a man picking up mail near the man’s home just south of Bellevue. Officers returned to the wounded man’s neighborhood the next day to look for a car believed to have been driven by Stanfill. They spotted it, but it got away after a pursuit. Police said the car returned to the area later that day and Stanfill fired two shots at officers. The car sped away again, eventually crossing Bellevue’s Missouri River bridge into Iowa and headed south.

Fremont County, Iowa, authorities said a new chase began when Stanfill fired gunshots at officers after passing a patrol car in Tabor. More shots were fired as the pursuit continued south on U.S. Highway 275. The chase ended when the car driven by Stanfill turned onto a gravel road and then a levee road before vaulting into the Nishnabotna River. Stanfill and a companion were soon arrested. Stanfill’s companion, Jacqueline Streich, later pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting a felony eluding and was given two years of probation. Prosecutors dropped three other charges in exchange for her plea.

The Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office reports three arrests. Tuesday afternoon, 57-year old James Martin Decker, of Omaha, was arrested after he turned himself-in to the Sheriff’s Office on warrants for Harassment in the 3rd Degree/3rd offense, and Theft in the 4th Degree. Bond was set at $2,000. 52-year old Bruce Allen Rankin, of Council Bluffs, was also arrested Tuesday, after turning himself-in to the Pott. County S/O. Rankin was taken into custody on a bench warrant for Failure to Appear on a Non-felony offense and prior to conviction/appeal.

34-year old Rachel Suzanne McDaniel, of Council Bluffs, who was already serving a sentence in the Pott. County Jail, was presented with two warrants for Violation of Probation. She was then returned to the custody of Corrections staff. And, 33-year old Nicholas James Weare was arrested at the Pott. County Courthouse, on warrants for Credit Card -ATM Fraud/with a value $1,500 for each of the three counts.

INDIANOLA, Iowa (AP) — Warren County supervisors have rejected construction bids for a new courthouse and jail because they came in millions over budget. The board decided Tuesday not to award a contract so they can scale back existing plans or start over. The county has spent $2.6 million so far on the project. In August last year voters approved issuing bonds to cover its anticipated cost of $29.9 million. All of the bids were over $37 million.

The county had planned to break ground this month, having already removed most of the former courthouse and jail. The state had ordered the county to close the jail. Among its problems: failing a state fire marshal’s inspection, inadequate water supplies, inmate escapes, mold, cleanliness. The jail was on the third floor of the Indianola courthouse.

Police in Creston arrested a woman following a traffic stop today (Wednesday), at around 3:20-a.m.  19-year old Sophia Groumoutis, of Creston, was arrested at Stone & Howard Streets for OWI/1st offense. She was later released on a $1,000 bond.