Police have arrested and charged four people in the killing a Grinnell, Iowa, resident whose burned body was discovered in a ditch in Jasper County on Sept. 16.

Iowa police took Steven Vogel, 31, Roy Lee Garner, 57, Julia Cox, 55, and Cody Johnson, 29– all white into custody in connection to the murder of Michael Williams, a 44-year old Black man, according to a Monday press release detailing the heinous crime. All five people lived in Grinnell. According to Data USA, Grinnell, Iowa, is a small city with a population of about 9,000 people. 

Over 50 law enforcement agencies took part in the investigation of Williams’ death. Vogel’s arrest affidavit divulged that the murder took place inside Vogel’s mother’s home located at 1203 Spring Street. Everyone but Johnson and the deceased lived at the address.  According to another court document, Vogel told witnesses he strangled Williams to death. He then showed Johnson his friend’s body located in the basement. He offered the man drugs in exchange for his help to remove Williams’ body from the house on Sept. 15.

Garner, Cox and Vogel, then put Williams’ body in Garner’s Dodge Dakota pickup and dumped it in a ditch in nearby Jasper County. 

The owner of the truck took Vogel to his sister’s home in another town. Afterward, he and Cox disposed of the remaining evidence that included rubber gloves, plastic, bleach bottles and plywood. 

On Sept. 18, Dr. Michelle Catellier, the state’s medical examiner, listed Williams’ cause of death as “consistent with strangulation.”

On Tuesday, the Grinnell Police Department and the Iowa-Nebraska branch of the NAACP held a press conference.



“Our mission from the very beginning and that will continue is to bring justice for Mike and Justice for his family,” said Grinnell Police Chief Dennis Reilly. “I just want to be clear to say: This was not a random act of violence. Those responsible for this heinous act knew each other.”

President of the Iowa-Nebraska NAACP, Betty Andrews, also reiterated the chief’s sentiment about the crime, but she did acknowledge that she understood the community’s apprehension given today’s racial climate. 

"Given that the current climate where racial justice is on the front burner for so many…we understand the fear this kind of incident evokes," Andrews said.

“If there is something there, then we need to identify and address it. If there is not something there, we need to make sure that we have that clarity, as well. Any time there is a concern about the possibility of a racist act, that's where we are,” Andrews said.

GrinnellIowa Department of Public SafetyIowa-NAACPMichael Williams