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Husband’s ex-mistress testifies in Iowa murder case

An Iowa man on trial for the murder of his pregnant wife and unborn child will be judged by a jury in Davenport. Testimony started Tuesday at the Scott County c...

An Iowa man on trial for the murder of his pregnant wife and unborn child will be judged by a jury in Davenport.

Testimony started Tuesday at the Scott County courthouse in the Seth Techel murder trial.

Prosecutors say he shot and killed his wife Lisa in her sleep in 2012, so that he could be with another woman.

"He shot her with a twelve-gauge shot gun. It was basically a deer slug, and her baby's life was ended at the same time. To me, he shot her just the same way he killed an animal," said Tracy Caldwell, Lisa's mother.

"She was 17 weeks pregnant with a daughter and they'd already named her," said Todd Caldwell, Lisa's dad during a lunch recess outside the Scott County Courthouse.

On Wednesday, July 16, 2014, a former co-worker testified that she had fallen in love with Seth Techel and he told her he was getting a divorce to be with her.

The jury saw sexy text messages and emails between the two, exchanged right up until the day Lisa was found dead in the couple's bedroom.

Techel has had two previous murder trials in Wapello and Henry counties. Both ended in mistrial after the jury could not reach a verdict.

Lisa's parents say they have no doubt who killed their daughter, who was a correctional officer.

"I think he's a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I thought he was a real good person, but there's an evil side to him," Todd Caldwell said. "We're hoping justice is served."

The trial was moved to Scott County because the case has received so much attention in southern Iowa.

"It's been big. The Des Moines stations were here, Dateline NBC's down here," said journalist Andy Grove, with KTVO-TV.

The couple had only been married seven months.

"It's horrifying and sad when there are so many other avenues out there. If you don't love someone, you divorce. You leave. There's other things but to take a person's life," Tracy Caldwell said.

'You relive that day every single time and so, it's like picking a scab. You can't heal from it." Tracy Caldwell said.

 

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