LINN COUNTY, Iowa (KCRG) - Opening statements have begun Wednesday in the trial of the man accused of beating four people to death on a rural Linn County property in June 2024.

Luke Truesdell is charged with four counts of first degree murder in the deaths of Romondus Cooper, Keonna Ryan, Amanda Parker, and Brent Brown.

Investigators say Truesdell used a metal pipe to beat all four victims to death inside a detached garage on East Otter Road, Cooper, Ryan, and Parker died at the scene. Brown died at a hospital.

In October, a judge denied Truesdell’s motion to move the trial out of Linn County.

Truesdell’s attorneys argued their client cannot get a fair trial in Cedar Rapids because local media outlets reported details of statements Truesdell made to investigators that a judge has

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