Skip to content
Casepin

Solved cases · Iowa, United States

Solved cases in Iowa

13case filesUpdated Jul 14, 2026

Casepin holds 13 solved cases in Iowa. A solved case is one the record closes with a conviction or an equivalent legal finding; each file names who was convicted only where a court did.

13solved
Open in the map
Files
13
Solved
13
Span
1866–2022
With coverage
3
Creators
4
Map of the 13 case files in Iowa, pinned by legal status
13 files in IowaPins coloured by legal statusExplore live

Start here

The files to open first

The files to open first

  • Credit: English WikipediaEditorial useSourceSOLVEDListen

    Westdale Mall parking lot, Cedar Rapids, Iowa · 1979

    Murder of Michelle Martinko

    Michelle Martinko, an 18-year-old Cedar Rapids, Iowa high school senior, was stabbed to death in her family's car in a mall parking lot on December 19, 1979. The case went cold for nearly 39 years until familial DNA analysis and genealogy database matching identified Jerry Lynn Burns, who was arrested in 2018 and convicted of first-degree murder in 2020.

    3 to watch & hear
  • SOLVEDListen

    Brooklyn, Iowa · 2018

    Murder of Mollie Tibbetts

    Mollie Tibbetts, a 20-year-old University of Iowa student, disappeared while jogging near her home in Brooklyn, Iowa, on July 18, 2018. Her body was found five weeks later in a nearby cornfield, and farmworker Cristhian Bahena Rivera was convicted of first-degree murder in 2021 and sentenced to life without parole.

    1 thing to watch or hear
  • SOLVEDListen

    Iowa City, Iowa, United States · 2014

    Murder of Shao Tong

    Shao Tong, a 19-year-old Iowa State University student, was found dead in the trunk of her own car in Iowa City in September 2014, nine days after being reported missing. Her boyfriend, Li Xiangnan, was charged with first-degree murder, surrendered to police in China, and was ultimately sentenced to life imprisonment there in 2016.

  • SOLVEDListen

    Des Moines / Urbandale, Iowa · 2016

    2016 Murders of Des Moines Police Officers

    In the early hours of November 2, 2016, Urbandale officer Justin Martin and Des Moines Sergeant Anthony Beminio were killed in separate ambush-style shootings near Des Moines, Iowa. Scott Michael Greene was apprehended hours later, pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder, and was sentenced to life without parole.

  • SOLVEDListen

    University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa · 1991

    1991 University of Iowa shooting

    On November 1, 1991, Gang Lu, a former University of Iowa graduate student, shot and killed five people—three physics faculty, an academic affairs administrator, and a fellow student—and left another student paralyzed, before killing himself in Iowa City, Iowa.

  • SOLVEDListen

    Council Bluffs, Iowa, United States · 2009

    Death of Larry Ely Murillo-Moncada

    Larry Ely Murillo-Moncada, a 25-year-old Honduran man, disappeared from Council Bluffs, Iowa, in November 2009 amid what his family described as a mental health crisis. His body was found in January 2019 trapped behind refrigerator units in the now-closed supermarket where he had worked.

  • SOLVEDListen

    Russell-Lamson building, Waterloo, Iowa · 2005

    Murder of Jason Gage

    Jason Gage, a 29-year-old gay man, was beaten and stabbed to death in his Waterloo, Iowa apartment in March 2005; Joseph Lawrence, who had been with him that night, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and the case prompted a local push for LGBT protections.

About these files

Solved cases in Iowa, in brief

The files run from 1866 to 2022. The 2010s hold the most, with 4 files. The oldest is Lynching of Garrett Thompson, from 1866.

They are spread across 10 cities and towns; the most are in Iowa City (3) and Des Moines (2). By type, the largest groups are murder and homicide cases (11), kidnapping and abduction cases (2) and school shooting cases (1).

3 files of the 13 have coverage attached: 5 videos, podcasts and documentaries from 4 creators. The most covered is Murder of Michelle Martinko, with 3 items to watch or hear. Crime Weekly, Dateline NBC and Stephanie Harlowe have covered the most of them.

Every file is written from cited sources and pinned where it happened, and every person named carries the legal status the record gives them. Families and anyone involved can request a correction from any file.

Every file

All solved cases in Iowa

12 files

Elsewhere in United States

More solved cases

Same place, other outcomes

Every outcome in Iowa

Archive files1

These files are published and cited but are kept out of search listings for now, either because they fall outside Casepin’s true-crime scope or because they are still being deepened.

Questions

What people ask

How many solved cases in Iowa are on Casepin?

13. The count covers published files only and changes as new files clear review.

What is the oldest of these solved cases?

Lynching of Garrett Thompson, from 1866. Open the file

Which case in Iowa has the most coverage?

Murder of Michelle Martinko, with 3 videos, podcasts and documentaries linked from its file. Open the file

Which creators have covered solved cases in Iowa?

Crime Weekly (1 case), Dateline NBC (1 case) and Stephanie Harlowe (1 case), among 4 creators in all.

Where in Iowa are most of these cases?

Iowa City (3) and Des Moines (2).

How current is this page?

It rebuilds hourly from the published files; the newest file change here is dated Jul 14, 2026. A status changes only when the record behind it does.

Every file cited · legal status from the record · our standards · request a correction