On a tragic autumn evening, the life of Jessica Dawn Luedtke Deemer, a 24-year-old White/Caucasian woman from Waukee, Iowa, was brought to a violent and premature end. The date was October 17, 2008. Jessica was a devoted mother to her six-year-old son, Ty, and a respected compliance associate at Principal Financial in Des Moines. Having graduated from Simpson College with a degree in Business Marketing, she was building a life for herself and her child.
Friends and family remembered her as a genuine and creative person with a big heart, as beautiful on the inside as she was on the outside.
That fateful day, Jessica and her friend, 24-year-old Bryce Lee Mercer, were traveling together, reportedly on their way to a family barbecue. Their journey took them along Highway 14 near Marshalltown. The events that unfolded were witnessed by other motorists. Jessica's estranged husband, 27-year-old Kyle Gene Deemer, followed the pair in his truck. In an act of aggression, he ran the car carrying Jessica and Bryce off the road and into a ditch. What started as a report of a possible vehicle accident to 911 dispatchers quickly escalated as subsequent calls reported shots fired.
Kyle Deemer got out of his truck and shot Bryce Mercer. A terrified Jessica ran from the car, attempting to get help from a motorist who had stopped. During the chaos, she screamed into her phone to a 911 operator, "My ex-husband just shot my friend." As she tried to hide behind the witness's vehicle, Kyle Deemer pursued her and fired the fatal shot. Both Jessica and Bryce were found deceased at the scene by authorities who responded around 5:30 p.m.
A suspect description and vehicle information were quickly dispatched to law enforcement. Kyle Deemer fled the scene northbound in a silver pickup truck. He was spotted by police, and a pursuit ensued. Later that evening, he was apprehended on foot in southern Hamilton County and taken into custody by the Iowa State Patrol. Kyle Deemer was subsequently charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
The trial, which was moved to Humboldt County, took place in November 2009. Prosecutors portrayed Kyle Deemer as a jealous and controlling husband who could not accept the end of his five-year marriage to Jessica, who had separated from him that summer. Evidence showed he had previously threatened to kill her if she dated another man and had sent her text messages while following her just moments before the murders. The defense argued that Kyle was suffering from mental illness and was too high on methamphetamine to have formed the specific intent to kill, making him guilty of a lesser charge. However, after a six-day trial that included graphic evidence and testimony from eyewitnesses, the jury deliberated for less than two hours before finding him guilty on both counts of first-degree murder. Kyle Gene Deemer received a mandatory life sentence for each of the murders.
