CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (Court TV) — An Iowa man was sentenced to multiple life terms in prison for the brutal murders of four people.
Luke Truesdell appears in court for his sentencing on Feb. 27, 2026. (Court TV)
Luke Truesdell was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Keonna Ryan, Amanda Parker and Brent Brown. He was found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Romondus Cooper. The victims were ambushed inside of a garage workshop, beaten with a 42-inch metal pipe and died of blunt force injuries.
At trial, Truesdell’s defense argued that he was high on meth, sleep-deprived and traumatized when he was questioned by police.
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Truesdell had nothing to say to the court at his sentencing on Friday. Prosecutor Monica Slaughter described the murders as the “most violent and brutal killings that I’ve seen in my career,” as she urged the judge to hand down the maximum sentence for each count consecutively.
The judge ultimately agreed, sentencing Truesdell to life in prison without the possibility of parole for Ryan, Parker and Browns’ murders and 50 years for Cooper. She ordered the sentences to be served consecutively.
Before the sentencing hearing began, Truesdell’s attorney made an argument for his conviction to be tossed and a new trial ordered, which the judge denied.
