IOWA CITY – A convicted Iowa murderer who beat his girlfriend to death died in captivity.
Rick Fay Bird was pronounced dead due to natural causes at 3:10 p.m. on Wednesday, January 1, 2020 at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. Bird was 72 years old at the time of his death. According to an obituary, Bird was a handyman prior to going to prison for murder. He will be laid to rest at Graceland Cemetery in Creston, Iowa, in a private family service to be held at a later date.
Bird had been serving a life sentence for the crime of Murder 1st Degree in Union County. His incarceration began on October 24, 1997. Records show Bird used a hammer to strike his girlfriend several times in the head during a fight in Creston in February of 1997, killing her.
