Kellogg, IA - After the discovery of the burning body of a man in a rural area in Iowa, authorities have arrested three men and a woman as the suspects of the brutal incident.
According to the Department of Public Safety of Iowa, the 31-year-old, white guy, Steven Vogel, was one of the men arrested and he was already in jail for unrelated charges and now faces charges of first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse.
Despite Vogel's color and race, the Department of Public Safety mentioned in their statement that they want to clarify that no evidence supports that the act against Michael Williams was motivated according to his race nor that his death was related to a hate crime.
After receiving a report of a fire in a roadside ditch near the city of Kellogg in central Iowa, authorities responded at around past 5:30 p.m. last Wednesday wherein upon their arrival they have found the body that was put on fire, CNN reported.
The dead man was identified as Michael Williams, 44 years of age based on the information released by the authorities.
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Based on the statement released after the police investigation, they have found that the victim was killed on or around September 12 in the neighbor city of Grinnell and his body was then wrapped using a cloth and plastic and secured by a rope and tape and after that, the wrapped corpse was taken to Kellogg on September 16 where it was set on fire in a roadside ditch.
In the affidavit which supports the criminal complaint against Vogel, a police officer in Grinnell wrote that a witness alleged that the suspect Vogel shared to him that he had strangled Williams and showed him the body which happened in the basement of the house of Vogel in Grinnell.
Based on the court documents available, the victim and the suspect knew each other for a number of years.
Mother of Vogel, 55-year-old Julia Cox, and 57-year-old Lee garner who shared the home with Vogel, will also be facing charges of obstructing prosecution or destruction of evidence, abuse of a corpse, and accessory after the fact based on the gathered court documents.
According to Fox News, in the affidavit which contains the statement of Cox, he told investigators that she helped Vogel taking an object out of the back of a pickup which was wrapped in a brown blanket last Wednesday before the Vogel put it in a ditch.
Garner also mentioned in the affidavit that he drove the pickup and dropped Vogel off in a different town, then after that, together with Cox, they drove to a rural area wherein they dumped then items from the back of the truck in a ditch.
The affidavit also states that authorities located the dumpsite where the items were thrown and they found carpet, plywood, rubber gloves, bleach bottles, socks, plastic, and a receipt wherein the name of Vogel is present.
Twenty-nine year old, Cody Johnson, who lives in Grinnell was the fourth person that got arrested in relation to the crime. He was accused of abuse of a corpse and accessory after the fact.
On the affidavit, Johnson told the police that he went to the house of Vogel on September 13 where they tried to move the body from the basement.
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