Lori Ann Duncan, a 37-year-old Caucasian female, found her life tragically cut short on a summer day in Mason City, Iowa. On July 24, 1993, a sequence of events unfolded that would end not only her life but also the lives of her two young daughters, 10-year-old Kandace and 6-year-old Amber, and her boyfriend, Gregory Nicholson. The catalyst for this horrific act was a methamphetamine trafficking case in which Nicholson was set to testify against his former associate, Dustin Lee Honken.
To prevent this testimony, Honken and his girlfriend, Angela Jane Johnson, devised a plan. Johnson, posing as a lost saleswoman, gained entry into Nicholson's home. Once inside, she and Honken subdued and bound Nicholson and Lori Duncan. They then turned their attention to the children, deceptively telling them they were going on a surprise trip. The entire family was then forced into a vehicle at gunpoint and driven to a remote wooded area outside of Mason City. There, in a pre-planned act of violence, Honken executed all four of them.
For seven years, the fate of Lori Ann Duncan and her family remained a mystery. It wasn't until 2000 that a breakthrough occurred. While incarcerated, Angela Johnson provided a map to a fellow inmate, revealing the location of the shallow graves where the bodies had been buried. This crucial piece of information led investigators to the wooded area and the grim discovery of the remains. The subsequent investigation and legal proceedings brought the perpetrators to justice.
Dustin Lee Honken and Angela Jane Johnson were arrested and charged with multiple counts of murder. Honken was tried and found guilty, ultimately receiving a death sentence. After numerous legal maneuvers, he was executed on July 17, 2020. Angela Jane Johnson was also convicted for her role in the murders and was initially sentenced to death. However, her sentence was later commuted to life in prison. The case left a lasting scar on the community of Mason City and served as a chilling example of the lengths to which individuals will go to silence a witness.
