An unemployed Des Moines man with a criminal record has been arrested and charged with the murder of a 60-year-old woman whose body was found in a Jasper County park this weekend. An autopsy found Linda McQuerrey was killed with a sharp object. Jasper County Sheriff Mike Balmer says after more than 100 interviews with her neighbors and other witnesses, authorities arrested a man the victim knew.He’s identified as Hubert Lawrence Hardesty. Investigators would say only that the woman was killed by a sharp force. Specifically, death was caused by a sharp instrument. They put together a vehicle description, undertook surveillance of his home and linked him to the vehicle, and interviewed him for several hours Monday. Cops were able to determine there was a relationship between 64-year-old Hubert Hardesty and the woman, so authorities decided they had sufficient evidence to take him into custody.
