A 44-year-old Black man, Michael Williams, was found dead in a ditch in Iowa in 2020.
On Monday, 32-year-old Steven Vogel was sentenced to life in prison.
“You’re a cold-blooded murderer with hate in your heart. These sentences are made for people like you… who commit these horrific offenses and take others’ lives without any regard for consequences,” the judge stated.
There wasn’t enough proof that Vogel, who’s White, committed the offense because the victim was Black. However, Williams’ family called the act a “lynching.”
The relatives say that Vogel beat Williams and held a rope around his neck over a “White woman.” Vogel then kept the corpse in his basement for friends to see, took it to a ditch, and burned it.
Julia Cox, Vogel’s mother and Roy Lee Garner, her boyfriend, are suspected of assisting with transporting the body. They have been charged with abuse of a corpse, destruction of evidence, and accessory after the fact.
