ADEL, Iowa — Evidence in the case of a Perry man awaiting trial for allegedly killing his wife was dismissed earlier this month after defense lawyers argued it was illegally collected.
Richard Hoesing, 76, of Perry was arrested in March on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Jean Hoesing, 74, of Perry. In a phone call to law enforcement on the night of March 16, Richard Hoesing said he just killed his wife with a knife in order to “put her out of her misery.”
Hoesing’s public defender, Natasha O’Hollearn, asked the court in June to suppress all evidence from Hoesing’s cell phone and from statements he made shortly after his arrest because it was collected in violation of his Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights under the U.S. Constitution, according to court records.
According to court records, surveillance video from the Perry Police Department shows that soon after his arrival, Hoesing in an interview “said that he knew he should be talking to a lawyer” and “that they probably should do this together with a lawyer.”
When asked whether he need anything, he “said that he just needed a lawyer,” according to court records. Hosing was not given the opportunity to call a lawyer but was instead interviewed by an Iowa Department of Criminal Investigations special agent about the events leading to the admitted murder.
Dallas County District Court Judge Terry ruled Oct. 10 “that suppression of a suspect’s statements made after denial of their right to promptly speak to a lawyer” is “the appropriate remedy,” according to court records.
Rickers also ruled to suppress records collected from Hoesing’s cell phone because the Perry Police Department’s application for a warrant to search the phone was “far less specific and detailed” than necessary and because the “particularity requirement” for such a warrant was not met as it “‘placed no limitations on the types of files to be seized and examined,” according to court records.
The warrant application was too “general” and violated Hoesing’s Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures, Rickers said.
A pretrial conference is scheduled for Oct. 24 in Dallas County District Court. Dallas County Attorney Matt Schultz leads the prosecution of Hoesing.