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Woman convicted of murder in Iowa rest stop slaying

A first-degree murder conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Mariana Lesnic

Des Moines, IA (KCCI) — A woman has been found guilty of killing a truck driver at an Iowa rest stop along Interstate 80.

Iowa County District Court documents say 44-year-old Mariana Lesnic was convicted Thursday of first-degree murder.

Authorities say she shot 60-year-old Ernest Kummer four times in the head inside his truck cab on Sept. 6, 2017, at the westbound rest stop near Victor, about 40 miles west of Iowa City.

Kummer, who lived in Monroe, was an employee of Fridley, Minnesota-based Copeland Trucking, where he had worked since 2010.

Lesnic told investigators that she spent three nights with Kummer at his home in Monroe before they traveled to Illinois for his work. She also claimed he pointed a gun at her and said she had to “do what he told her to do.”

A first-degree murder conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

 

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