Spencer, Iowa — A South Dakota man has been sentenced to life in prison on a murder conviction in Spencer.
According to a criminal complaint filed with the Clay County Clerk of Court’s Office by the Spencer Police Department, 44-year-old Wade St John Sr. of Eagle Butte was accused of murder in the death of Djay Loudner of Spencer last August.
In his statement, the officer says the police were called to the alley west of the 200 block of Grand Avenue in Spencer on Tuesday night for the report of an unconscious male bleeding badly. He says Spencer Ambulance arrived, and the man was declared deceased. The officer says surveillance video from a nearby business shows a physical altercation ensued between St. John and Loudner in which St. John struck Loudner several times while Loudner appeared defenseless and unconscious. He says after already striking Loudner multiple times, St. John allegedly walked away, grabbed a bottle of clear liquid, and dumped it on Loudner’s face. The video then seems to show St. John continuing to kick Loudner multiple times in the face.
St. John was charged with murder in the first degree, a class A felony, and was convicted in a jury trial last month.
On Tuesday, District Judge Charles Borth sentenced St. John to life in prison without parole, which is the mandatory sentence for class A felonies in Iowa, such as murder in the first degree.
KIWA Staff Photo
