Erika Haberger-Dains

Erika Haberger-Dains

Three people have been arrested for the deaths of two elderly residents of western Iowa’s Carroll County. Investigators says the suspects, all from Denison, are accused in the deaths of  80-year-old Marvin Huesling and 81-year-old Alice Huisenga.

Their bodies were found Monday on a property owned by Huesling near Deloit in Crawford County, where a trailer home and truck had been set on fire.

Dan Dawson,  a special agent with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, says the state medical examiner’s office determined Huesling died from multiple gunshot wounds, while Huisenga’s death was “the result of homicidal violence.”

Michael Schenk

Michael Schenk

The individuals arrested are identified as 26-year-old Michael Schenk, 19-year-old Jayden Chapman, and 36-year-old Erika Haberberger-Dains. “What our investigation is telling us right now, the three people charged in this investigation were likely out at that property to engage in stealing scrap metal from that property,” Dawson said at a news conference this afternoon. Dawson described the victims as “longtime friends” and said the suspects were “general acquaintances.”

Dawson declined to describe how events may’ve unfolded Monday at the crime scene. “I can’t get into exact specifics of that, but by the very nature of their deaths, there had to have been a confrontation there,” Dawson said. He does not anticipate any more arrests in the case. “We feel fairly confident that the individuals, related to this incident, have been identified and apprehended,” Dawson said.

Jayden Chapman

Jayden Chapman

All three suspects are being held in the Crawford County Jail and are charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree arson.

(Reporting by Michael Earl, KDSN, Denison)