CALENDAR CALCULATIONS: East Marshall extends school day / LOCAL & STATE, A3
THURSDAY
Feb. 18, 2010
MARSHALLTOWN, IOWA
CENTRAL IOWA’S DAILY NEWSPAPER
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Hunt: I’m going to kill you
“No,
I’m
sorry,” a female
voice responded,
presumably that of
Hunt’s mother.
A short time
later, the male
said, “I hate you.”
Hunt
That was followed by the same voice saying,
“You’re dead. You’re dead. You’re
dead right now.”
The woman responded, “I’m so
sorry.”
Some portions of the recording
include cries and screams, along
with unintelligible yelling.
Jurors listened to the testimony,
most simply staring forward, and
some looking toward the floor.
By KEN BLACK
TIMES-REPUBLICAN
A tape recording of what prosecutors say is the first three minutes
of Terry Hunt’s assault on his
mother was played for the jury
Wednesday as the prosecution
wrapped up its case.
Hunt is accused of attempted
murder and assault causing willful
injury.
The recording was made on the
answering machine of one of
Hunt’s friends, who after hearing
the recording called police on the
night of Jan. 8, 2008.
“You want to fight?” a male
voice that prosecutors say is Hunt
asked on the recording.
That was the last piece of evidence
presented by the prosecution.
Earlier in the day, two doctors
that saw Hunt’s mother in the
emergency room gave their assessments of the situation. Both
described significant bruising and
swelling from her head to toes.
“She had the appearance of
someone who was in a motor
vehicle accident without her seat
belt on,” said Dr. Charles Keller,
who was her regular family physician.
The emergency room physician, Dr. Milton Van Gundy, also
said he would classify her injuries
as severe.
“This has to be in the top 5 percent of injuries we see in the emer-
Price 50¢
Ash Wednesday
observance subject
of objection
gency room that is not involving a
motorcycle or automobile,” he
said.
Aaron Hawbaker, the attorney
for the defense, questioned both
doctors concerning the extent of
the injuries. He made particular
reference to the fact that there
were no broken bones.
He also questioned why one
doctor arrived at the diagnosis of a
concussion but the other doctor
reported he had been unable to
come to that conclusion.
Marshalltown Police Officer
Chad Hillers testified that he
arrested Hunt at the scene after
authorities had been called. He
The age-old question of separation of
church and state played itself out in a Marshall
County courtroom Wednesday.
After a lunch recess while prosecuting a
trial for attempted murder, Assistant County
Attorney Paul Crawford returned from lunch
with ash on his forehead. He is Catholic and
celebrating Ash Wednesday is something millions of people all around the world do.
Before the jury was brought back into the
courtroom, Aaron Hawbaker, the attorney for
the defense, objected to the ash being on
Crawford’s forehead.
“He is representing the state of Iowa,”
TRIAL | A3
ASHES | A3
By KEN BLACK
TIMES-REPUBLICAN
Today
Accused coach
shooter’s
mom says son
had delusions
in Central Iowa’s
Daily Newspaper
LOOKINSIDE
By NIGEL DUARA
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INSIDE TODAY’S
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PHOTO COURTESY OF MARSHALLTOWN FIRE DEPARTMENT
Members of the Marshalltown Fire Department engage in ice rescue training using new dry suits purchased
for such rescues. The new suits give rescuers more flexibility and control when in the water.
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LocalObituaries
Arlene Frye, 84
Frances K. Jamell, 94
Leon Hilleman, 79
Harvey Huhn, 87
Robert Ray
Jana Lee Musick
Freese
Paul M. Gassman, 53
OBITUARIES • A6
By the water. Photo provided by CU user
mark legg.
MORE PHOTOS.
View more photos and order prints
online at timesrepublican.com
48445 00010
By KEN BLACK
TIMES-REPUBLICAN
Five minutes — 300 seconds
— is not a lot of time.
But for those who are in freezing cold water, that could be the
amount of time they have before
they are no longer able to help
themselves.
“Cold water can affect you
very rapidly,” said Marshalltown
Deputy Fire Chief Steve
Edwards. “So we are likely going
to have to go out there.”
That means putting on a dry
suit and walking or sliding out on
the ice and may even mean getting into the water with the person being rescued.
To understand what rescuers
may be up against, the fire
department recently completed
three days of training where all
firefighters on all shifts got to
experience what it was like to rescue someone in the water.
9
Printed with soy
ink on recycled
newsprint
Ice thickness
guidelines
newer suits.”
In addition to the on-ice training, each crew also received three
hours of classroom training
The following is the recommendwhere they learned about differed minimum safe ice for certain
ent types of ice and different resactivities and objects:
cue techniques.
• 2 inches or less — STAY OFF
“In some cases, the victim
• 4 inches — Ice fishing or other
could be panicking and not workactivities on foot
• 5 inches — Snowmobile or ATV ing with the rescuer,” Edwards
• 8 to 12 inches — Car or small
said. “We need to know how to
pickup
deal with that type of situation so
• 12 to 15 inches — Medium
one of our people isn’t drowned
truck
while trying to rescue someone
Source: Minnesota Department
of Natural Resources else.”
Edwards said fishing is one of
the biggest dangers. People who
The firefighters braved the ice fish tend to spend long pericold water using state-of-the-art ods of time on the ice and may
dry suits, a new style the city become complacent to the sounds
recently purchased for rescue of cracking and shifting ice.
efforts.
Ice conditions can change rap“The suits are more maneu- idly from day to day, or even hour
verable, lighter weight and more to hour, especially during this
flexible than the suits we are used time of the year as the air temperto,” Edwards said. “There’s also a
better feel in your hands with the
TRAINING | A3
BECKER | A3
The search is on for
new city administrator
By TAMMY R. LAWSON
TIMES-REPUBLICAN
CUSnapshot
7
Marshalltown firefighters
receive ice rescue training
ALLISON — The mother
of a former football player
accused of
fatally shooting his high
school coach
testified
We d n e s d a y
that her son
suffered from
Becker
severe bouts of
depression and occasionally
violent episodes.
Joan Becker said her son,
Mark Becker, was hospitalized
for mental issues three times
before he was accused of gunning down Aplington-Parkersburg coach Ed Thomas in June.
The first episode, in September 2008, began when
Mark Becker began calling her
‘‘horrible, horrible names’’ and
threatened to kill himself, she
said.
‘‘There was lots of swearing, which he did not ever do
in front of me,’’ Joan Becker
said. ‘‘It went on for hours and
hours. He kept asking, can’t
you see, can’t you see?
‘‘He thought he was being
turned into our coon dog,
Chief. Just extreme, bizarre
behavior.’’
Becker, 24, is charged with
first-degree murder in the death
of Thomas and has pleaded not
guilty by reason of insanity.
His attorneys have said that
they will try to show he is a
paranoid schizophrenic who
had not taken his prescribed
medication the night before the
shooting.
Assistant Iowa Attorney
General Andy Prosser asked
Joan Becker whether her son’s
apparent delusions ever
focused on Thomas. Joan
Becker said that during the
first episode, Mark Becker tore
Sixty-four applicants: One
job.
As processes have begun
to find a new city administrator, Marshalltown’s Citizen
Advisory Committee has just
that many candidates to sort
through.
The group assembled
Wednesday at the Marshalltown Public Library to find a
suitable replacement for Dick
Hierstein who is retiring in
June.
“We have a lot of work to
get through,” said chairwoman Bethany Wirin. “We
will look at all the applications and meet again in a cou-
ple weeks after we’ve had
time to read them thoroughly.”
According to ads soliciting
the job, ideal qualifications
include a Master’s Degree in
Public Administration or a
closely related field, at least
five years of experience as a
city manager or city administrator, and a record of success with economic development, municipal finance and
union relations.
A starting annual salary
ranges from $90,958 to
$123,032, depending on the
level of experience.
Also a member of the
T-R PHOTO BY TAMMY R. LAWSON
Marshalltown City Council, Human Resource Director Nathan Stucky explains to Citizen's Committee chairSEARCH | A3
woman Bethany Wirin the time frame involved with choosing a new administrator
for the city of Marshalltown.
Inside Today Advice B4 Business A7 Central Iowa A5 Classifieds B6 Comics B4 Daily Almanac A2 Editorial Forum A4 Iowa News A3
Legals B5 Lotteries B2 National & World News A8 Obituaries A6 People A6 Public Records A6 Puzzles B5 Sports B1 Weather A2
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2 sections, 20 pages
Vol. CXXXIV No. 49
Copyright 2010.
Marshalltown Newspaper, Inc.