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Rural Iowa: Black man killed, his body dumped in a ditch and set on fire by 4 White residents
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2020/09/22/michael-williams-death-family-remembers-grinnell-man-gentle-giant-burned-body-found-in-jasper-county/5862773002/
4 charged in slaying of Grinnell man remembered by family as gentle, loving; no racial motive seen
Andrea May Sahouri
Zachary Oren Smith
Des Moines Register
Ever since Michael Ronnell Williams left his native Syracuse, New York, for the Midwest 24 years ago, his large, tight-knit family had been trying to convince him to move home.
Now, it's too late.
Four people were charged Tuesday in connection with the murder of Williams, 44, whose burning body was found Sept. 16 in ditch in rural Jasper County.
Steven Vogel, 31, of Grinnell was charged with first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse, according to an Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation news release.
*snip*
Williams was Black. All the people charged are white. But during a Tuesday news conference with the Iowa-Nebraska chapter of the NAACP, police said there was no evidence Williams had been murdered because of his race. At least one of the suspects — Vogel — knew Williams, they said.
The body of Michael Williams, 44, was found burning in a roadside ditch in rural Jasper County on September 16, 2020. The Syracuse, New York, native had been living in Grinnell, Iowa, about 12 years.
*snip*
DeGreef, 45, and her children were on their way back from Dairy Barn in Grinnell around 4 p.m. when they spotted the flames. DeGreef thought an animal was involved — a sickly cow, maybe.
After dinner, Andersen went to investigate. It was right before 5:30 p.m.
“I stood for probably a minute trying to figure out what I was looking at. And then I saw the hands," Andersen said.
She immediately called police.
More than 50 law enforcement agencies have since been involved in the investigation. Police said evidence revealed Williams was killed at 1203 Spring St. in Grinnell on or about Sept. 12 and that his body had remained in the basement there for days.
*snip*
According to the court document, Vogel showed Williams' body to Johnson in his basement, and offered Johnson drugs in exchange for his help removing it on Sept. 15.
---------------------
Determined to live on his own
Diagnosed with a learning disability as a child, Williams left Syracuse determined to prove he could be on his own, said his aunt, Paula Terrell.
Terrell, 57, of Syracuse, said her nephew first moved to Nebraska before settling in Grinnell about 12 years ago. He worked at a few fast-food restaurants but was recently unemployed because of worsening diabetes.
Though he resisted the family's entreaties to move home, he would check in with them on a daily basis, she said. He wanted to know how his mother was doing and he'd always update them on what he'd been up to.
The calls stopped Sept. 12, two days after his 44th birthday.
Full article at the link above
4 charged in slaying of Grinnell man remembered by family as gentle, loving; no racial motive seen
Andrea May Sahouri
Zachary Oren Smith
Des Moines Register
Ever since Michael Ronnell Williams left his native Syracuse, New York, for the Midwest 24 years ago, his large, tight-knit family had been trying to convince him to move home.
Now, it's too late.
Four people were charged Tuesday in connection with the murder of Williams, 44, whose burning body was found Sept. 16 in ditch in rural Jasper County.
Steven Vogel, 31, of Grinnell was charged with first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse, according to an Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation news release.
*snip*
Williams was Black. All the people charged are white. But during a Tuesday news conference with the Iowa-Nebraska chapter of the NAACP, police said there was no evidence Williams had been murdered because of his race. At least one of the suspects — Vogel — knew Williams, they said.
The body of Michael Williams, 44, was found burning in a roadside ditch in rural Jasper County on September 16, 2020. The Syracuse, New York, native had been living in Grinnell, Iowa, about 12 years.
*snip*
DeGreef, 45, and her children were on their way back from Dairy Barn in Grinnell around 4 p.m. when they spotted the flames. DeGreef thought an animal was involved — a sickly cow, maybe.
After dinner, Andersen went to investigate. It was right before 5:30 p.m.
“I stood for probably a minute trying to figure out what I was looking at. And then I saw the hands," Andersen said.
She immediately called police.
More than 50 law enforcement agencies have since been involved in the investigation. Police said evidence revealed Williams was killed at 1203 Spring St. in Grinnell on or about Sept. 12 and that his body had remained in the basement there for days.
*snip*
According to the court document, Vogel showed Williams' body to Johnson in his basement, and offered Johnson drugs in exchange for his help removing it on Sept. 15.
---------------------
Determined to live on his own
Diagnosed with a learning disability as a child, Williams left Syracuse determined to prove he could be on his own, said his aunt, Paula Terrell.
Terrell, 57, of Syracuse, said her nephew first moved to Nebraska before settling in Grinnell about 12 years ago. He worked at a few fast-food restaurants but was recently unemployed because of worsening diabetes.
Though he resisted the family's entreaties to move home, he would check in with them on a daily basis, she said. He wanted to know how his mother was doing and he'd always update them on what he'd been up to.
The calls stopped Sept. 12, two days after his 44th birthday.
Full article at the link above
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