An Iowa man who used a metal pipe to kill four people in 2024 has been convicted on multiple murder charges.
On Monday, Nov. 17, Luke Truesdell was found guilty of three counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder, according to reports from KCRG, the Des Moines Register and KGAN.
Authorities said that in June 2024, Truesdell fatally beat four people with a metal pipe: 44-year-old Romondus Lamar Cooper, 26-year-old Keonna Victoria Ryan, 33-year-old Amanda Sue Parker and 34-year-old Brett Anthony Brown, per the Linn County Sheriff’s Office.
KCRG reported that the attacks took place in a detached garage in Marion, Iowa.
At the time, the sheriff’s office noted that one possible motive under investigation was “the possibility of the crime being made into a movie.” According to the Register, those comments about a potential movie were not presented to the jury.
All four victims suffered blunt force trauma, authorities said. Brown was transported to a hospital in critical condition and later died there, while the other three victims were pronounced dead at the scene.
The Register reported that Truesdell told investigators he believed the people he assaulted were involved in sex trafficking, though law enforcement found no evidence supporting that claim. He also allegedly said he was high on methamphetamine and had been awake for two days.
According to KCRG, Truesdell was convicted of first-degree murder in the deaths of Ryan, Parker and Brown, and second-degree murder in Cooper’s death. He faces a possible life sentence, with his sentencing hearing scheduled for Feb. 27, 2026.
