NorthIowaToday.com

Founded in 2010

News & Entertainment for Mason City, Clear Lake & the Entire North Iowa Region

Investigators believe 1985 murder has been solved using DNA; one man arrested

CORALVILLE, Iowa – Taking an Iowa man in for questioning one more time allowed investigators to snag his DNA and link him to a decades-old murder.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety’s (DPS) Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI), in cooperation with the Coralville Police Department, arrested Anthony Burtch, 57, of Iowa City, on March 24, 2016, and charged him with Murder in the First Degree, a Class “A” Felony.

On August 13, 1985, at approximately 7:15AM, the body of Lance DeWoody, 22, was found on the floor of a picnic shelter at the University of Iowa Oakdale campus in Coralville, Iowa.

An autopsy was performed on the body of Lance DeWoody and the cause of death was determined to be two gunshot wounds to the head and face and the manner of death was ruled homicide.

Throughout the investigation it was determined that DeWoody was dating the wife of Burtch. DeWoody and Burtch’s wife spent the evening of August 12, 1985, together and then Burtch’s wife returned home to Burtch. Shortly after her return, Burtch left for approximately an hour-and-a-half. Investigators believe that Burtch killed DeWoody during this time.

In the time leading up to the homicide of DeWoody, witnesses recall Burtch stating that he was going to kill DeWoody.

Burtch told investigators that a trio harassed him and DeWoody for months prior to the murder. A witness claims that Burtch provided DeWoody a piece of paper with the names of those men. Investigators were able to locate that piece of paper during the investigation and later determined the men non-existent.

In January, during an interview with a DCI Agent, Burtch denied having been harassed by the trio of men prior to the night of the murder of DeWoody. During that same interview, DCI Agents were able to obtain a sample of Burtch’s DNA to compare to DNA found at the crime scene, which is when Burtch agreed that he would “get buried on the sciences of this thing.”

Burtch was arrested without incident this morning and is being held at the Johnson County Jail on $1 million cash or surety bond.

BURTCH, ANTHONY WAYNE
BURTCH, ANTHONY WAYNE
0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

2 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Even more news:

Watercooler

Need help with your website?
Call your local professional,
Breakthrough Web Design:
515-897-1144
or go to
BreakthroughWebDesign.com

Copyright 2024 – Internet Marketing Pros. of Iowa, Inc.
2
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x