More info on this case: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren\_John\_Nutter\_Jr.
On January 4, 1956, 18-year-old Warren "Jack" Nutter obtained a 1954 model car from a dealership in Freeport, Illinois, under the pretense of a test drive. He drove to Rockford, picking up 16-year-old Joan Saur and two teenage boys he didn't previously know: Robert Wright (16) and David Jenkins (17). After selling the car's spare tire for gas money, they picked up 16-year-old Betty Zwiefel. Without telling the girls their destination, the group headed west toward California.
Along the way, the group aborted an attempted farmhouse robbery before burglarizing a gas station in Earlville, Iowa, for cash, gas, and a box of shotgun shells. At 2:00 a.m. on January 5, Independence, Iowa Officers Harold Pearce (52) and Henry Funk (61) spotted the group's car driving erratically. A chase reaching 100 mph ensued, ending when the fleeing car missed a turn and drove onto a gravel road. The teenagers were arrested and brought to the Buchanan County Sheriff's Office.
The girls were held in the front office with Officer Pearce, while the boys were held in a rear office with Officer Funk. Nutter asked Funk for permission to use the restroom. Once inside, he climbed out a narrow second-floor window, went to the group's car, and retrieved a 12-gauge shotgun hidden under the back seat.
Nutter loaded the shotgun, re-entered the front office, and ordered Officer Pearce to draw his service revolver with his left hand and place it on a desk. As Pearce stood up and approached with his gun drawn, Nutter pulled the trigger, striking Pearce in the left chest and killing him instantly. Nutter tried to reload, but the shotgun jammed. Officer Funk cracked the rear door to investigate, and Nutter pointed the jammed shotgun at him, ordering the other boys to grab Funk's gun. Instead, Funk slammed the door, drew his own weapon, and subdued the boys. Nutter stole Pearce's fallen revolver, threw the jammed shotgun down a stairwell, and fled. He was captured hours later hitchhiking on a nearby highway.
Nutter pleaded guilty to first-degree murder. Judge Shannon Charlton, despite having the option of imposing life imprisonment, gave the youth the maximum penalty: death by hanging. However, in April 1957, shortly after his appeals ran out, Governor Herschel Loveless commuted the sentence to life in prison, citing Nutter's youth and difficult family background.
By September 1998, Nutter had become the longest-serving inmate in Iowa history, having spent 42 years in the system. At age 61, he was housed in a cell block designated specifically for "honor" lifers. Reflecting on the physical and psychological toll of his decades of confinement, Nutter remarked, "I came in here when I was 18, and I still feel 18 inside... But I know I'm getting older outside. I go out and walk around the track, play a couple sets of tennis and wake up in the morning and feel like I'm 93 years old." Though he acknowledged that he would likely die in custody, he expressed a sense of community within the walls, stating, "This is like we're in our own little community. Everybody I know is in the penitentiary."
In a June 2006 interview with The Gazette, Nutter reflected on the killing, stating, "I know I killed a police officer. That's the worst crime." He characterized the incident as "not a planned murder" and expressed remorse, adding, "I'm sorry I did it. I can't change that." Regarding his long-term incarceration and personal growth, Nutter remarked, "I know people can change. I know I have changed."
Nutter spent the rest of his life behind bars, becoming the longest-serving inmate in Iowa history. He died in a prison hospice unit on December 8, 2021, having served over 65 years.
This post contains content not supported on old Reddit. Click here to view the full post
This post contains content not supported on old Reddit. Click here to view the full post
This post contains content not supported on old Reddit. Click here to view the full post