5 Killed in Iowa City Shooting

[Tesha]

Source: AP via the SF Chronicle

5 Killed in Iowa City Shooting

Police found the bodies of a woman and four children Monday
morning in a house on Iowa City's east side, authorities said.

Dispatchers got a call at 6:31 a.m. saying officers needed to
get to the address immediately. The caller then hung up, a police
department statement said.

<snip>

Officers said they were not able to find the home's adult male
resident, Steven Sueppel. Court records show that a Steven Sueppel
who lives at the address where the bodies were found was indicted
last month on federal charges of stealing about $560,000 from the
bank where he worked.

Police also said the family's van was missing. They said a single-vehicle,
fatal crash on Interstate 80 about nine miles from the house may have
involved the van. However, the vehicle was on fire so officers were
having a difficult time identifying it and the occupant, according to
the department news release.

<more>

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/03/24/national/a074346D41.DTL

[Wickerman]

1. That is really tragic

Turns out it wasn't shooting, according to new reports in the Press Citizen. They are not saying how the victims died. Sueppel was apparantly about to go on trial for embezzling 1/2 million dollars and spending it on cocaine. He has been preliminarily identified as the driver of the van.

Iowa City is still a relatively small town, the Uni aside. This is having deep imapct.

http://www.press-citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage

[leQ]

2. they're saying it was NOT a shooting incident. the headline is wrong. (eom)

[Tesha]

14. It's funny you *KNOW* this; five minutes ago, it was simply undetermined.

http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2008/03/24/ap-state-ia/d8vk0ttg7.txt

> Police didn't specify how the family was killed. Initial alerts
> said there had been a shooting at the home, but Kelsay said further
> investigation shows the deaths could be the result of some other
> trauma.
>
> "I'm not certain that a firearm was ever involved. Nobody reported
> hearing any shots fired," he said.

[Eugene]

3. ABC News: Indicted Iowa Banker's Family Murdered

Source: ABC News

Indicted Iowa Banker's Family Murdered
Father Wanted by Police May Have Killed Himself
in Single-Vehicle Highway Crash

By DAVID SCHOETZ
March 24, 2008

Five family members of an Iowa banker recently indicted on
federal embezzlement charges were found dead in their home
today in Iowa City, Iowa.

The dead included the man's wife and their four children.
Police think the banker may have died a short time later
in a fiery car crash on a nearby highway.

The Iowa City Police Department said in a news release that
officers went to the home of 42-year-old Steven Sueppel
after receiving a 911 call at 6:31 a.m. from a cell phone.

The unidentified caller directed authorities to the home,
where the five bodies were found.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=4513309&page=1

[lonestarnot]

4. "So?" more bushitler victims

[enki23]

5. jesus christ, that's disgusting. this has nothing to do with bush.

i hate the fucker too, but embezzlement was illegal long before he came around. and somehow i don't think it was the tanking economy that led this poor, desperate banker to steal half a million dollars. he didn't need that money to feed his fucking kids, or provide for their healthcare. and apparently, he didn't much care about either, in the end.

this is just a goddamned tragedy, and politics has nothing whatsoever to do with it. there isn't even anyone left to prosecute.

[lonestarnot]

8. the bushitler economy is doing wonders for families, sorry you don't agree. And the "SO?" is a

Dickless wonder response! I do not disagree that it is a tragedy! But who is the root cause of the tragedy. I would suggest a bushitler economy and the bushitlers who thought they would get rich with their vote. When they didn't and they still flew too high for their budget, they just take it, when they get caught, some take the coward's way out, just like this example. "SO!"

[cyberswede]

12. hmm...

a. Are you implying that the banker voted for Bush? How can you possibly know that?
b. I really don't think the Bush economy made this guy shove a half-million bucks of coke up his nose.

That said, I agree that he took the coward's way out - even more so since he deemed it necessary to take out his whole family along with himself.

I work in Iowa City, by the way.

[Tashca]

7. you are so far off it's not funny

This post is totally out of line!!!!!

[Tashca]

6. Oh my

I was in the Iowa City area most of the morning while this was going on....I caught a phone call when the lock down was over.
I am in shock.....I didn't personally know this person or his family, but know many members of this bank and of the board.....
When the whole thing broke it was a major shock to the community. The embezzlement and the everything involved......
Now this.....what a horrible tragedy.

[lonestarnot]

9. Get used to it! In case you haven't noticed, we are living in a bushitler facist world.

These things happen here.

[enlightenment]

10. These things happened long before any of the people you

categorise as a "bushitler" was around. Nothing is so easy that you can point your finger at the same cause every single time. It's convenient, I suppose, but not very rational.

I understand your anger and frustration with the direction this nation taken - but this particular incident doesn't necessarily have anything to do with what is happening to the nation. It is a very sad and sorry thing, but it's neither new or all that unusual.

[LanternWaste]

11. Post hoc ergo prompter hoc...?

They've happened prior to Bush*'s presidency, also. They've happened during the administrations of the most progressive and the most regressive presidents.

These things happen everywhere.

[lonestarnot]

18. Tell me when you recall a past time when there has been so many reported cases of

1 person in the family wipes out the rest and then suicides him/herself. The incident may have begun a long time back, it ended under the present "ownership society."

[LanternWaste]

25. The Great Depression for a starter.

The Great Depression for a starter. The Panic of 1890. The Recession/Stagflation of '74.

You can point me to peer-reviewed studies stating in so many terms that there are more suicides/suicide-homicides due to the financial situation in the here and now, I'd love to take a look. But if you're simply going off of anecdotal evidence or a "gut feeling", maybe you should qualify your position with that disclaimer.

[Ordr]

26. Things are no more violent than in the past, just more televised.

[lonestarnot]

27. I didn't say any more or less violent.

I said number of cases of family wipe out.

[Ordr]

28. You are right.

I stand corrected and apologize.

[Scout]

21. get a new line, would you? n/t

[lonestarnot]

22. What tired of facists, murdering, thieves?

[Scout]

33. no, just you n/t

[lonestarnot]

34. I am happy to be ignored. Find the button!

:eyes:

[petersjo02]

13. Sueppel worked for Hills Bank, Iowa City branch office.

Hills is a small suburb just south of Iowa City. In the early 1980s, farmers were declaring bankruptcy and being foreclosed on after they bought up high-priced farmland during a short-lived "boomlet." Soon after, things went bust, and many (too many) farmers were saddled with mortgage payments for land that was no longer worth what it was when they bought it. Sound familiar, in light of today's real estate mortgage mess? Anyway an angry farmer went to the Hills Bank home office in Hills and shot and killed several bank employees. He was in meltdown because the bank was foreclosing on his loan. So this is another terrible tragedy for the Hills Bank family and our Iowa City and surrounding communities.

[zanne]

15. I wish these people would just kill themselves...

And leave their poor families alone.

[petersjo02]

16. The four kids who died

were Korean orphans adopted by the couple over several years. Somehow, that makes it even more sad, if that's possible, in my mind.

[zanne]

17. Godamnit.

That does make it worse. If the father isn't dead, he'll wish he was.

[Zynx]

19. That is tragic. This is the sort of story that really makes one lose faith in humanity.

[Tashca]

20. yes

Yes the children were adopted .....My daughter works for a local station. Three years ago they did a special on this family and the wonderful things they were doing for the community.....

The father comes from a very prominent family in Iowa City

edit: I gave some bad information....sorry....fixed it

[lonestarnot]

23. "Ownership society." Chattel.

No options for mentally ill.

[laylah]

24. Update...

Police initially thought there might have been a shooting, but officials now believe no gun was involved. http://www.wqad.com/Global/story.asp?S=8064526&nav=menu132_3_2

So very sad. Why didn't the bastard off himself and leave the family alone!!!!

edited to add another resource: http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2008/03/25/news/local/doc47e7ad3f2ae6a460086427.txt

[Tesha]

29. Thanks! (NT)

[leQ]

31. there we go, thanks for the updates. so there WAS NO gun. right? (eom)

[leQ]

30. i wish they would get it straight - was it a shooting or not? reports have been

made that there was no gun involved. what happened to the news conference where all the facts would have been laid out. this sounds like poor policemanship.

[Tesha]

32. Sometimes you can't tell until the M.E. finishes with the bodies. (NT)

[Tesha]

35. Update: Definitely murder/suicide.

http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080326/NEWS/928507556/1006/news

http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/17003276.html

> He also said he was sorry for killing them. Police say Steven
> Sueppel killed his wife Sheryl first and left her body in the
> master bedroom. Then, he tried to kill himself and his four
> children using exhaust fumes in the garage. Apparently, it
> didn't work.
>
> So, police say Sueppel killed each of the four children using
> some sort of blunt force.