Early this morning, just a couple of blocks from the governor’s mansion, Des Moines Police arrested a murder suspect.
Thirty-six-year-old Michael Wells was arrested at 3 a.m. He’s been charged with first degree murder. The arrest is the culmination of a more than year-long investigation.
On July 28th of last year, police found two men in Des Moines with gunshot wounds. One of the men had been shot in the leg. He recovered. The other had been shot in the chest and he later died at the hospital. Wells is now charged with that murder.
Wells has been charged with serious crimes before. As a 17-year-old, Wells was charged as an adult on two attempted murder charges, but those charges were later dropped and he was ordered to drug rehab. When Wells was 25, he was sentenced to two years in prison on a charge of intent to inflict serious injury and for violating his parole. In mid-2009 Wells was arrested again and charged with possessing and selling marijuana.
State and local drug agents worked with Des Moines Police to make this latest arrest.