Sunday, December 27, 2009

Life without parole for murder of estranged wife, friend by estranged husband

A man who shot his estranged wife and her friend was sentenced to life without parole in a Humboldt County, Iowa courtroom on Monday, December 21. Kyle Deemer, 29, was sentenced to two consecutive life without parole sentences for the shotgun slayings of Jessica Deemer and Bryce Mercer. Judge Baker said that Kyle made a series of decisions to kill the couple, and he thought that "You seem to be convinced that what you did was justified."

Deemer followed his wife and Mercer from Des Moines to a point north of Marshalltown on Highway 14. Jessica and Mercer were going to Mercer's family reunion in Gladbrook for the weekend. On Highway 14, Deemer forced them off the road with his vehicle, then shot both of them. The judge described how Deemer had to expel the expended shell and re-load after shooting Mercer, before he could shoot Jessica.

This was Judge Baker's rationale for making the murder sentences consecutive instead of concurrent. Jessica's sister, Jamie Luedke, said that "I despise you, Kyle, for so many reasons. I hope you will experience the same sadness and suffering every day of your life."
 
Her father, Kevin Luedtke, asked this question of the killer. "Kyle, after all this family has done [for] you, I cannot understand why you would return the favor with such cruelty. What on Earth did you have to gain by killing Jessica?" After the sentencing, he went on to say that "As of this day forward, Kyle Deemer ceases to exist for our entire family. If you're lucky, you'll never see Ty again," Kevin said. "But don't be surprised, when he's an adult, if he looks you up and says, 'How could you do this to me?'"
 
Ty is the Deemer's 6 year old son who is being raised by the victim's relatives.

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