Estherville, Iowa — One of the defendants who is accused of the murder of an Estherville man whose body was found along an Emmet County road last year has entered an Alford plea.
A criminal complaint says that just over a year ago, 20-year-old David McDowell was reportedly lured to an apartment by 19-year-old Connor Uhde and 18-year-old CeJay Van Der Wilt before he was shot to death early the next morning along a roadway about five miles outside of Estherville. His body was discovered several hours later by a passing motorist.
Uhde entered the plea Monday. A defendant entering an Alford plea doesn’t plead guilty to the charges, but admits that the prosecution has sufficient evidence to obtain a conviction. As part of a plea agreement, Uhde’s charges are being changed to attempted murder and third-degree kidnapping. He had originally been charged with murder in the first degree. He also agreed to testify against Van Der Wilt.
The attempted murder charge is a class B felony, and Uhde could face up to 25 years in prison. The kidnapping charge is a class C felony and as such carries a 10-year penalty, but we are told that these sentences would run concurrently.
