Cedar Falls man wants murder trial moved

The Cedar Falls man accused of killing on off-duty Waterloo police officer and his wife wants his trial moved out of Black Hawk County. Attorneys for Ryan Johnson are asking for a change of venue in the case, claiming pre-trial publicity would make it hard to seat an impartial jury. Prosecutors say they’ll challenge the request. Johnson is charged with two counts of first-degree murder in the September shooting deaths of his mother, Suzanne Harned — a former county dispatcher — and her husband, Richard — a veteran Waterloo police officer. Johnson’s trial is scheduled for August 17th. Meanwhile, the four Black Hawk County dispatchers who worked the night of the double murder were honored yesterday in Des Moines. The team was given the state’s telecommunicator of the year award as recognition for the job they did in handling the calls involving the fatal shootings.