4 charged in gruesome death of Iowa father found burning in ditch
Four people have been charged in the “heinous” killing of a beloved father whose corpse was found burning in rural Iowa last week, authorities announced Tuesday.
Michael Williams' body was dumped into a ditch and set on fire four days after he was strangled to death by an acquaintance, according to the Iowa Department of Public Safety.
The suspect, 31-year-old Steven Vogel, has been charged with first-degree murder and abuse of corpse. His mother and two other people are accused of helping him conceal and get rid of the body.
The death of a Black man in such a horrific manner immediately raised red flags, but law enforcement officials and a representative for the NAACP insisted that this was “not a random of act of violence” and said there’s no evidence of a hate crime.
Authorities said the 44-year-old victim and his accused killer “were known acquaintances who often socialized within the same circle of friends."
“The circumstances surrounding Mr. Williams’s death and the limited facts revealed about the discovery of this crime have, understandably, caused concern within the Grinnell community and beyond,” DPS Special Agent Adam DeCamp said in a news conference Tuesday.
“While it would be inappropriate to speak to a motive in this case, I can say without hesitation that no evidence has been found to show the acts against Michael Williams were motivate by his race," he said.
Williams' body was found Sept. 16 in Kelloggs, about 40 miles east of Des Moines. The victim, who lived in nearby Grinnell, had been wrapped in cloth and plastic and tied with rope and tape, according to officials.
A multi-agency investigation found that he was killed on Sept. 12 and had been kept in a basement for days.
Vogel’s alleged accomplices — Julia Cox, 55, Roy Garner, 57, and Cody Johnson, 29 — were each with abuse of a corpse, destruction of evidence and accessory after the fact. Their exact involvement was not immediately clear.
Williams' family said he was born in Syracuse, N.Y., and left for the Midwest more than 20 years ago. He had at least five children and recently worked in fast-food restaurants, according to the Des Moines Register.
“He had such a sense of humor. He was a character,” his e-wife, Sharta Williams, told the paper. “If you needed someone to make you laugh, he would be the one to make you laugh.”
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