Betty Werner, a 33-year-old White female, was found dead in rural Monroe County, Iowa, on July 3, 2022, after information about a possible killing reached police in Ankeny. Authorities were told that a homicide had occurred days earlier in Lovilia and were given information pointing them toward a rural location where a body might have been concealed.
Ankeny police relayed the report to the Monroe County Sheriff's Office, the Iowa State Patrol, and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, setting off a coordinated search outside the small community.
Deputies and conservation officers followed the information to an area off 505th Street, where they discovered Betty's body covered with bedding and debris. The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation was called in to assist with the case. An autopsy conducted through the state medical examiner's office determined that Betty had been shot multiple times, and her death was formally classified as a homicide. Investigators publicly identified her husband, 41-year-old Nathan Werner, as the sole person responsible for killing her.
As officers attempted to continue the investigation, deputies and state agents were unable to make contact with Nathan at the couple's residence at 202 East Street in Lovilia. Authorities secured the home after learning that he was armed and barricaded inside. The Iowa State Patrol Crisis Negotiation Team and tactical officers responded, and negotiators spent several hours trying to persuade him to leave the residence peacefully. Nathan refused to come outside and eventually ended communication with the negotiators.
Before tactical officers entered the house, Nathan shot himself. An autopsy later confirmed that he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and his death was ruled a suicide. Because the man authorities identified as Betty's killer died during the standoff, there was no arrest, criminal prosecution, trial, or conviction. Investigators did not announce any additional suspects and described Nathan as the only person responsible, leaving the case resolved by law enforcement as a murder-suicide rather than one that could proceed through the courts.
