Primghar, Iowa — The trial for a Rock Rapids man accused of committing murder in Sheldon in March has been postponed again.
Forty-one-year-old Nathaniel Byron Kassel of Rock Rapids is accused in the death of his mother, 62-year-old Jody Lynn Duskin, whose body was found inside her home at 604 4th Avenue, across the street southwest of Sheldon City Park on March 23rd. Charges of operating a vehicle without the owner’s consent and dominion or control of a firearm by a felon were dismissed. Kassel filed a written plea of not guilty to the murder charge.
Kassel’s pretrial conference had been scheduled for May 15th with his trial scheduled for June 20th. But his legal team asked for and was granted a “continuance,” which is a legal term for a postponement. At that time the trial was pushed back to August, but now it’s been postponed again.
According to court records, most murder trials are postponed several times before they actually take place. Kassel’s trial has been pushed back –at this point — to the middle of October. (October 17, 2023), with a pretrial conference set for August 21st.
