News

Orange City, Iowa — An Alton man has been re-sentenced to life in prison for a 1976 murder, but this time with the possibility of parole.

Sioux County Attorney Thomas G. Kunstle says that 55-year-old John Walter Mulder, originally of Alton, was re-sentenced on May 11, 2016 in Sioux County District Court for the 1976 Murder of Jean Homan.

Mulder was found guilty of Murder in the First Degree before a jury in 1979 and sentenced to mandatory life without parole on February 2, 1979. Mulder was convicted after accused of shooting and killing 55-year-old Jean Homan while she was in her Alton bedroom on April 23, 1976. Immediately before firing at Jean Homan, Mulder aimed at her husband, Carl Homan, but the rifle misfired, says Kunstle.

This re-sentencing arose after the United States Supreme Court held that juvenile offenders cannot be sentenced to mandatory life imprisonment without parole even for homicide offenses. Governor Branstad commuted Mulder’s sentence to life with parole after 60 years. In 2013, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that the Governor’s blanket commutation was not right because each case required an individualized sentencing hearing.

Since Mulder has had several disciplinary violations during his 37 years in prison, including escape attempts, the court decided to re-sentence him to life with the possibility of parole after 42 years before he will be eligible for parole or work release. Mulder has 30 days to appeal the sentence.

More information from the Sioux County Attorney’s Office:

In 2015 the law changed relating to the service of mandatory minimum sentences by juveniles convicted of murder, setting out three alternatives for the courts in these so-called juvenile murder re-sentencings. They are:

• Life without the possibility of parole;
• Life with the possibility of parole after setting a minimum term of confinement before parole eligibility;
• Life with the possibility of parole.

Since 1979, Mulder has served 37 years in prison. The State requested a sentence under paragraph (ii) above – life with parole after 45 years. Mulder requested life with parole under paragraph (iii) above. The State cited the following DOC disciplinary violations as reasons for a stricter sentence:

1. On 1/17/1980, Mulder possessed a bomb precursor. Mulder had received charcoal from another inmate, which was stolen from the Furniture shop, and that Mulder felt the inmate was going to utilize it to manufacture gun powder and make a bomb. Mulder was 18 years old.
2. Between June 1981 and April 1982, Mulder was involved with multiple instances of collecting money and possessing and arranging for drugs to be purchased and introduced into the prison. Mulder was 20 years old.
3. On 8/22/1989, Mulder had an argument with his at-the-time wife, and escaped from medium custody from a South Dakota Penitentiary. Mulder fled on foot, did not turn himself in, and was apprehended a short time later. Mulder received a 10 year suspended prison sentence from South Dakota for escape, and was no longer able to be supervised out-of-state. Mulder was 28 years old at the time.
4. Mulder was part of a 1998 tunnel escape attempt which was ongoing for “six” or “seven months” where inmates tunneled just before the exterior prison wall, and inmates were “very close” to getting out. Staff found drills, masonry bits, electric extension cords, goggles, dust masks, gloves, coveralls, candles, pry bars, hammers, alcohol, plexiglass and steel shanks, spurious guard uniforms, and a 20 gauge shotgun made from galvanized water pipe and pipe fittings. Mulder stated he “knew about the shanks and gun” and Mulder’s personal property, marked with his inmate number, was located within the tunnel.
5. Between 7/26/2013 and 8/20/2013, Mulder and another inmate were utilizing an off-limits room, avoiding surveillance cameras, for inappropriate consensual sexual misconduct. Mulder was also 52 years old at the time.
6. Throughout Mulder’s incarceration he has been found with marijuana, un-prescribed prescription medication, tobacco, and alcohol.

Sheldon, Iowa — People from Sheldon and the surrounding area will have an opportunity this coming Monday to support an organization that is always ready to answer the call when someone is in trouble.

The Sheldon Community Ambulance Team, or SCAT, will hold their annual fundraiser dinner Monday evening from 5:00 to 7:00 pm at the Lifelong Learning and Recreation Center at Northwest Iowa Community College.  SCAT Director Tracy Gorter says the dinner is being held in conjunction with a health fair.

For the past several years the SCAT fundraiser has been known as the SCAT Chicken Supper, but Gorter says this year they’re shaking things up a bit.

She says the proceeds from Monday’s SCAT fundraiser will be used toward the purchase of a piece of state-of-the-art equipment that will help SCAT more effectively treat cardiac patients.

Gorter talks about what this equipment can mean in the treatment of a patient.

Gorter says that, on behalf of the entire Sheldon Community Ambulance Team, she wants to invite everyone to come out and support SCAT at Monday’s fundraising dinner so that they can continue to answer the call with the best equipment available to help provide the best outcome for those who use their service.

Northwest Iowa — That 9-1-1 surcharge we all pay each month on our landline and cell phone bill will soon be used to pay the first year’s lease on a new statewide emergency communications system.

Governor Terry Branstad has signed a bill into law that launches the effort to build a new statewide radio communications system for every law enforcement and emergency response unit in the state.

Emergency responders in New York City found they could not communicate effectively when terrorists struck the World Trade Center nearly 15 years ago. States around the country began building new radio systems so all emergency responders could communicate with one another. Iowa is among the last states to act. Branstad signed the bill into law Wednesday morning in Adel, since Dallas County will be the first to connect to the new system.

Iowa Public Safety Commissioner Roxann Ryan says the system will let first responders talk to one another during disasters and big events, like the Iowa-Iowa State football game.

The state of Iowa is providing a “baseline” radio network. Cities and counties would have to pay extra for add-ons that improve radio communications in basements and hallways.

The communications hub for four Des Moines suburbs will be the first city system to join the new network and Branstad expects other central Iowa agencies will be among the first to join.

The project’s total cost is estimated to be $58-million. The state will pay a yearly lease that costs nearly $4.4 million. The lease money in the first year will come from an emergency 9-1-1 charge Iowans pay on their land lines and cell phones.