Articles labeled: Iowa

More information has been released about Steven Sueppel, who killed his wife and four children before dying himself in a fiery car crash. Apparently Sueppel first tried to kill his family by carbon monoxide poisoning, and when that didn’t work he went on a rampage with a baseball bat:

Sueppel succeeded in killing himself early Monday in a fiery crash, police said, but only after leaving a note and voice mails at his home and at the offices of relatives and co-workers, explaining his actions.

Authorities disclosed details Tuesday of the hours before Sueppel, accused of stealing $560,000 from his bank, rammed the family van into the concrete base of a highway sign about 9 miles east of Iowa City. Sueppel died when the van erupted in flames, police said.

Starting about 11:30 p.m. Sunday, Sueppel, 42, began leaving voice mails at the offices of relatives and ex-colleagues apologizing profusely, saying the shame he brought on his family was too much to bear, Iowa City police said.

“The statements went toward the children and wife being in a better place,” Sgt. Troy Kelsay said. “But it’s pretty personal, and I’m not comfortable commenting more on that.”

A van found crashed and on fire contained a fatality, who is believed to be Steven Sueppel, as the van was registered to him. Sueppel is the prime suspect in the murder of his wife and four children, found dead in their home Monday morning.

The matter began when dispatchers received a call at 6:31 a.m. saying officers needed to respond to the Barrington Road home immediately. The caller then hung up.

Officers arrived to the unlocked house, then entered and found the five bodies inside, according to a news release from the Iowa City Police Department.

Authorities said they were not able to locate Sueppel, and that the family’s van was missing.

Court records show that Sueppel was indicted by a grand jury last month on charges of stealing about $560,000 from the bank where he worked.

“Given the nature of the call, and the fact that Steven Sueppel was recently charged with embezzlement … there was some concern for the safety of the occupants,” Kelsay told The Associated Press, when asked why they entered the house.

Police didn’t specify how the family was killed. Initial alerts said there had been a shooting at the home, but Kelsay said further investigation shows the deaths could be the result of some other trauma.

Even though the Autistic son who a mother failed to strangle to death is 20 years old, I am putting this under the category of “child abuse” since the young was functionally retarded.

When the failed murder attempt was foiled, the mother then took her own life.

The family is blaming it on depression. Let this be a wake-up call. Those with clinical depression should be forbidden from caring for others, especially children. They just aren’t capable of doing it without a significant amount of risk.

Investigators said on Jan. 4, Tegtmeier called Ankeny Schools at 7:30 a.m. and said her son Rory Jr. was sick and she cancelled his bus pickup. Tegtmeier also called a siding company that was coming to work on her home and told them not to come because of a family matter. She then called her husband at his Ames office and left a message that she could not keep their 11 a.m. lunch appointment.

Police said following her phone calls Tegtmeier went to an upstairs bathroom and attempted to strangle her son with a cord.

During interviews with Rory Jr., 20, who has autism, investigators learned that Rory Jr. struggled to get free from the cord and forcefully pushed his mother away. He then hid in the basement, later telling investigators he was scared of his mother.

Rory Jr. told investigators he then heard a loud noise and rushed back upstairs to find his mother on the kitchen floor. Police said she had taken her own life by strangling herself.

Hail to the “mean” muthas of the world!

When a teenager broke the house rules by hiding alcohol under the seat of his car, his mother follows through with a threat that makes this mother a role model for parents all over…

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Jane Hambleton has dubbed herself the “meanest mom on the planet.”

After finding alcohol in her son’s car, she decided to sell the car and share her 19-year-old’s misdeed with everyone — by placing an ad in the local newspaper.

The ad reads: “OLDS 1999 Intrigue. Totally uncool parents who obviously don’t love teenage son, selling his car. Only driven for three weeks before snoopy mom who needs to get a life found booze under front seat. $3,700/offer. Call meanest mom on the planet.”

Obviously our country is not managing the mentally disturbed/insane appropriately.

Just another example of why asylums need to be brought back…

DES MOINES, Iowa — A man has been charged with stabbing and strangling his two stepdaughters in what police describe as ritual slayings at the family’s home in Sioux City.

Lawrence Douglas Harris Sr. was charged with two counts of first-degree murder after authorities arrived at his burning home and found the girls in their second-story bedroom and blood on Harris, police said Monday.

Police Lt. Marti Reilly said Harris had been performing “some strange ritual” and told officers he cast a spell that had gone bad. Reilly said he could offer no other details on how the girls were killed.

Scarily enough, in the state of Iowa, it is not illegal to sell your breastmilk to the highest bidder.

Would you feel comfortable having your baby drink somebody elses bodily fluids? Before anybody brings up the wet nurse argument, consider how disease is spread — through bodily fluids!

It’s just not right…

Next, breastmilk will be sold on Ebay, which will open up a whole can of worms. (How do you really know that it’s even breastmilk???)

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - A woman who doesn’t want her breast milk to go to waste has taken out a newspaper ad in hopes of selling it. Martha Heller, 22, of Tiffin, took out the ad in The Gazette, offering 100 ounces of her breast milk for $200 or the best offer.

Heller said her freezer is overflowing with breast milk that she has pumped since August. Her 4-month-old daughter won’t drink from a bottle and the supply is piling up.