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1993 Iowa murders

SOLVED1993Unincorporated woodland outside Mason City, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa3 SOURCESUPDATED JUL 2026
Angela Johnson
Angela Johnson — Credit: U.S. Attorney's Office (United States federal government) · Public domain

In 1993, Dustin Lee Honken was a methamphetamine manufacturer and dealer in northeast Iowa facing federal drug trafficking charges. When one of his dealers, Greg Nicholson, agreed to become a government informant against him, Honken and his girlfriend, Angela Jane Johnson, searched for Nicholson's whereabouts after Honken was released on bond. On July 24, 1993, Johnson gained entry to Nicholson's home by posing as a saleswoman. She and Honken bound Nicholson, forced him to record a false statement, and then bound his girlfriend, 37-year-old Lori Ann Duncan, along with Duncan's daughters, 10-year-old Kandace and 6-year-old Amber. The family was forced into a car and driven to a wooded area outside Mason City, where Honken killed the adults and then the two children at a pre-dug grave.

Honken had been prepared to change his plea and admit guilt in the federal drug case, but after Nicholson's disappearance the government's case instead turned on the testimony of another former dealer, Terry DeGeus. On November 4-5, 1993, Johnson lured DeGeus to meet her under the pretext of rekindling their relationship, then drove him to an abandoned house where Honken beat, shot, and buried him. With no surviving witnesses, the government dropped the criminal case tied to those disappearances at the time, and Honken was later convicted only on drug trafficking charges, receiving a lengthy prison sentence after a 1999 appellate ruling removed a sentencing deduction.

The murders were not solved until 2000, when Johnson's friend Christi Gaubatz came forward to police with information about the search for Nicholson and the weapon used. Johnson was charged with five counts of murder in furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise in July 2000. In custody, a fellow inmate, Robert "Bobby" Gene McNeese, obtained a recorded confession from Johnson and a map to the victims' bodies, which were recovered in October 2000. Honken was charged with the murders in 2001.

Honken and Johnson were tried separately. Honken was convicted in October 2004 on all counts, including the five murders, and jurors recommended life sentences for the adult victims but death sentences for the killings of the two children; he was formally sentenced to death in October 2005. Johnson was convicted in 2005 and sentenced to death in December 2005, becoming the first woman since the 1950s sentenced to death by a U.S. federal jury. In March 2012, the presiding judge vacated Johnson's death sentence due to deficient legal representation regarding her mental state, and in December 2014 prosecutors declined to seek a second death sentence; she was resentenced to life without parole and is incarcerated at FCI Aliceville.

Honken exhausted his appeals in 2015, but his execution was delayed by a moratorium and subsequent litigation over federal execution protocols. He was executed by lethal injection on July 17, 2020, becoming the first defendant from Iowa executed by the federal government since 1963.

Key facts

Victims
Terry DeGeus, Kandace Duncan, Greg Nicholson, Lori Ann Duncan, Amber Duncan
Date
1993
Location
Unincorporated woodland outside Mason City, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa
Case status
solved

Case timeline

  1. 1993-03

    Dustin Honken and Tim Cutkomp are arrested on federal drug trafficking charges.

  2. 1993-07-07

    Angela Johnson buys a pistol.

  3. 1993-07-24

    Johnson and Honken abduct Greg Nicholson, Lori Ann Duncan, and Duncan's two daughters.

  4. 1993-07-25

    Honken kills Nicholson, Duncan, and Duncan's two daughters in a wooded area outside Mason City.

  5. 1993-07-30

    Honken tells his attorney he is changing his plea; Nicholson is discovered to have disappeared.

  6. 1993-11-04

    Terry DeGeus disappears after being lured to meet Johnson; Honken later kills him.

  7. 1996-02-07

    Officers search Honken's house and discover his meth lab and related evidence.

  8. 1996-04-29

    Honken and Cutkomp are captured in Mason City on federal drug trafficking indictments.

  9. 1997-06-02

    Honken pleads guilty to attempting to distribute and conspiring to manufacture/distribute methamphetamine.

  10. 2000

    Christi Gaubatz speaks to police about Honken's and Johnson's search for Nicholson and the murder weapon.

  11. 2000-07-26

    Johnson is charged with five counts of murder in furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise.

  12. 2000-07-30

    Johnson is captured.

  13. 2000-10

    Victims' bodies are recovered based on information from Johnson via inmate Robert McNeese.

  14. 2001

    Honken is charged with the murders.

  15. 2004-10-14

    Honken is convicted on all 17 counts, including five counts of murder.

  16. 2004-10-27

    Jurors recommend life sentences for the adult victims and death sentences for the child victims.

  17. 2005

    Johnson is found guilty of five counts of murder in furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise.

  18. 2005-10-11

    Honken is formally sentenced to death.

  19. 2005-12-19

    Johnson is formally sentenced to death.

  20. 2012-03

    Judge Mark W. Bennett vacates Johnson's death sentence.

  21. 2014-12

    Prosecutors announce they will not pursue a second death sentence for Johnson; she is resentenced to life without parole.

  22. 2020-07-17

    Honken is executed by lethal injection.

Best coverage

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People

  • Terry DeGeus

    VICTIM

    Former methamphetamine dealer murdered on November 4, 1993.

  • Kandace Duncan

    VICTIM

    10-year-old daughter of Lori Ann Duncan, murdered on July 25, 1993.

  • Dustin Lee Honken

    CONVICTED

    Convicted in October 2004 of all five murders in furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise; sentenced to death and executed by lethal injection on July 17, 2020.

  • Angela Jane Johnson

    CONVICTED

    Convicted in 2005 of five counts of murder in furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise; originally sentenced to death, resentenced to life without parole in 2014 after the death sentence was vacated.

  • Greg Nicholson

    VICTIM

    Former methamphetamine dealer and government informant murdered on July 25, 1993.

  • Mark W. Bennett

    LAW ENFORCEMENT

    U.S. District Judge who presided over sentencing and later vacated Johnson's death sentence.

  • Lori Ann Duncan

    VICTIM

    Nicholson's girlfriend, murdered alongside him on July 25, 1993.

  • Amber Duncan

    VICTIM

    6-year-old daughter of Lori Ann Duncan, murdered on July 25, 1993.

Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.

Archival records

  • Angela Johnson

    mugshot

    Angela Johnson

    Credit: U.S. Attorney's Office (United States federal government) · Public domain · Source

Places

Unincorporated woodland outside Mason City, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa

43.1536, -93.2010

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Common questions

What happened to the victim?
Dustin Lee Honken and his girlfriend Angela Jane Johnson murdered five people connected to a federal drug trafficking case against Honken in Cerro Gordo County, Iowa, in 1993: a dealer-turned-informant, his girlfriend, her two young daughters, and a second former dealer. The killings were not discovered until 2000. Both were sentenced to death; Honken was executed in 2020, while Johnson's death sentence was overturned and she was resentenced to life without parole.
Where did the murders happen?
Unincorporated woodland outside Mason City, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa.
Who was convicted?
Dustin Lee Honken (Convicted in October 2004 of all five murders in furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise; sentenced to death and executed by lethal injection on July 17, 2020.) and Angela Jane Johnson (Convicted in 2005 of five counts of murder in furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise; originally sentenced to death, resentenced to life without parole in 2014 after the death sentence was vacated.).
What is the current status of the case?
Status: solved. Last verified July 2026.
More cases in Iowa

Sources

  1. ENCYCLOPEDIC1993 Iowa murdersWikipedia · 2026-07-05
  2. PRESSContemporaneous coverage — The New York TimesThe New York Times · 2026-07-05
  3. PRESSContemporaneous coverage — bop.govbop.gov · 2026-07-05

Record history

First published
JUL 05, 2026
Last verified against sources
JUL 05, 2026