Posted on

Jasper County jury to begin deliberation Tuesday in Linderman trial

Randy Linderman of Charles City listens to testimony during his trial in Jasper County District Court. Linderman, 52, is on trial for first-degree murder for the March 2017 death of Jose Ramirez Berber. Photo by Orrin Shawl, Newton Daily News
Randy Linderman of Charles City listens to testimony during his trial in Jasper County District Court. Linderman, 52, is on trial for first-degree murder for the March 2017 death of Jose Ramirez Berber. Photo by Orrin Shawl, Newton Daily News
By Orrin Shawl, Courtesy Newton Daily News

A Jasper County jury will begin deliberations Tuesday morning, deciding whether a Charles City man is guilty of first-degree murder.

Closing arguments in the Randy Linderman trial were made Friday afternoon, but the judge let the jury go for the long Veterans Day weekend without beginning to make its decision.

Linderman, 52, of Charles City, is on trial for the March 2017 murder of Jose Ramirez Berber in rural Newton. A state medical examiner ruled Berber died because of blunt force trauma to the head.

Much of the testimony Friday in Jasper County District Court in Newton involved determining Linderman’s location by identifying the cellphone towers that transmitted his phone calls the day of the alleged murder.

Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Special Agent Don Schnitker also testified that another suspect in the case would not have been able to have been in the area at the time of the incident, according to cell tower information.

The defense’s lone witness, an employee of Sukup Manufacturing Co. in Sheffield, testified Friday that a job application from Linderman dated March 6, 2017, was in the company’s possession, but the employee had not seen Linderman drop it off and didn’t know when it was received.

In the closing arguments Friday afternoon, prosecutor Jasper County Attorney Scott Nicholson said Berber’s killer knew how to get into the house because the front door was broken, and Linderman was familiar with the house, having told investigators he had been there many times.

Defense attorney Jill Eimermann noted in her closing argument that just because Linderman’s DNA had been found on Berber’s clothing and body, did not prove Linderman beat the victim to death.

“DNA evidence doesn’t tell you who did this. It doesn’t tell you when. It doesn’t tell you what,” she said.

Assistant Jasper County Attorney Kelly Bennett finished the prosecution’s closing arguments, saying that the evidence of malice and intent required to prove first-degree murder could be seen in Linderman’s alleged actions.

“After he was down, each and every single remaining blow, whether it was the elbow, fist or the knee, after the first incapacitating blow, each and every single blow after that continued to shatter his face and skull is evidence of malice, evidence of intent and evidence of somebody who wants to finish the job and kill Jose,” Bennett said.

The closing arguments were completed after the closing time of the Jasper County Courthouse, so District Court Judge Richard Clogg sent the jury home for the weekend.

The courthouse was closed Monday for Veterans Day, so jury deliberations will begin today (Tuesday).

If convicted of first-degree murder, Linderman faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison with no possibility of parole.

— Contact Orrin Shawl at 641-792-3121 ext. 6533 or oshawl@newtondailynews.com.

Social Share

LATEST NEWS