Fourth victim of deadly attack near Marion dies

A man who authorities say was beaten with a metal pipe near Marion became the fourth victim in a fatal attack last Wednesday, and the suspect is now charged with four counts of first-degree murder.

Brent Anthony Brown, 34, was seriously injured in the bludgeoning and hospitalized. His father, Lon Brown, who earlier told The Gazette he owned the property where the attack took place, said last week that tests showed his son had no brain activity.

Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner said in a news release Sunday that Brent Brown was pronounced dead Friday by the Johnson County medical examiner.

His body will be transported to the state medical examiner's office in Ankeny, along with those of the three other victims: Keonna Victoria Ryan, 26, and Romondus Lamar Cooper, 44, both of Cedar Rapids; and Amanda Sue Parker, 33, of Vinton. All suffered blunt force injuries to the head and other injuries to the body.

The suspect, Luke Wade Truesdell, 34, of Marion, was ordered held on $4 million bail after being charged with three counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder of Brown.

Truesdell now faces four counts of first-degree murder and is expected to make his first court appearance Monday on the enhanced charge. Authorities said in a criminal complaint that Truesdell gave several motives for the attack, including that the killings could be made into a movie.

Linn County Sheriff's deputies responded shortly before 4 p.m. Wednesday to 3699 East Otter Road, near Marion, after a witness found four individuals suffering from head injuries bleeding in an outbuilding on the property, according to a criminal complaint.

Truesdell was found at the scene of the murders and admitted to deputies that he hit the four with a metal pipe, according to the complaint. The pipe, with blood and hair on it, was recovered by investigators.

Relatives of the first three victims could not be contacted or declined to comment last week. The relationships between them and the accused attacker have not been revealed.

One of the victims, Parker, worked two jobs, one at a Subway restaurant and one at the Olde Brick House pub at Lindale Mall in Cedar Rapids, according to Shay Colwell, general manager of Olde Brick House. She said she had known Parker since the pub opened last September.

“She was a very bubbly, happy person,” Colwell said. “She was a great worker, a good colleague. We call each other family, so she became family here.

Parker often talked about her family, especially her nieces and nephews, and she spent most of her breaks playing Monopoly on her phone. She didn't have a car, but her co-workers usually drove her to work, according to Colwell.

Parker had not worked at Olde Brick House on the day of the murders.

“I had just left the restaurant to go home for the day. By the time I got home, I had a whole bunch of texts on my phone, probably around 5 p.m. Everyone said his house was on the news. That's when it started to circulate. Later we found out one of them was actually her,” Colwell said.

Investigators identified Parker as being from Vinton. His connection to the property where the attack took place has not been described by authorities.

An online fundraiser at gofundme.com in his name had raised more than $9,000 as of Sunday afternoon. The page organizer said the funds raised would be donated to Parker's family.

The Gazette's Emily Andersen and John McGlothlen contributed.