December 17, 2014

Jury Finds Man Guilty of Second-Degree Murder on the Meskwaki National Settlement

A man who used a machete to kill his parents on the Meskwaki Nation Settlement was convicted by a jury today after an eight-day trial in federal court in Cedar Rapids.

Gordon Lasley, Jr., age 26, from the Meskwaki Nation Settlement, Iowa, was convicted of two counts of second degree murder in “Indian country.” The verdict was returned this afternoon following about one day of jury deliberations.

The evidence at trial showed that, on February 5, 2014, Lasley murdered Gordon Lasley, Sr. and Kim Renee Lasley at their home on the Meskwaki Nation Settlement by striking them with a machete. Lasley’s attorneys unsuccessfully argued Lasley was insane at the time of the murders and should not be held criminally responsible for the murders.

Sentencing before United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade will be set after a presentence report is prepared. Lasley remains in custody of the United States Marshal pending sentencing. Lasley faces a possible maximum sentence of life imprisonment, a $500,000 fine, $200 in special assessments, and up ten years of supervised release following any imprisonment.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys CJ Williams and Anthony Morfitt and was investigated by the Meskwaki Nation Tribal Police Department, the Tama County Sheriff’s Office, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/. The case file number is 14-CR-00045.