A 66-year old California man is in jail in Waterloo, facing two counts of first-degree murder in a double shooting that occurred 31 years ago. Waterloo police say Jack Wendell Pursel, of South Gate, California, turned himself in Tuesday at the Waterloo Police Department.
Officials say Pursel admitted going to the home of Robert and Goldie Huntbach, on January 12, 1981 with the plan to rob and kill them. The couple died of gunshot wounds and an autopsy ruled the cause of death a homicide.
Police investigated the case, but no arrest was ever made. Officials say that Pursel gave details of the shooting that only a person involved in the crime would have known. Pursel is being held in the Black Hawk County Jail in Waterloo on one-million dollars bond after an initial court appearance Thursday morning.
By Scott Fenzloff, KCNZ, Cedar Falls