The trial for a former Iowa man is underway. Christian Longo was born in Iowa in 1974, though after his mother’s divorce she moved to Michigan and joined the Jehovah’s Witnesses. It was through the church he met his wife, who later moved with Longo to the west coast. The woman and their three young children were found dead in December 2001, and a nationwide manhunt began. Some people claimed they’d spotted Longo back in Iowa. But Longo was arrested in Mexico, and charged with killing his wife and three children. He told the court he’d come home from work to find that his wife had killed two of the children and fatally injured the third, and he killed her in outrage. But prosecutors say Longo’s a con man with a long history of fraud and bad-check convictions, and had been facing theft and parole-violation charges when he fled the Midwest. If he’s convicted, Iowa-born Longo could face the death penalty in Oregon.
