A man who was convicted of murder 35 years ago in eastern Iowa has died in prison.
Corrections officials say 63-year-old Clayton Manning died Monday in the Iowa Medical and Classification Center’s Hospice Care Unit. He had bladder cancer. Manning, from Maquoketa, was sent to prison in April of 1981 in connection with the shooting death of a business partner, 34-year-old Phil Clary of rural Zwingle.
Police said Manning gave 19-year-old Leonard Gregory, Jr. of Dubuque a handgun and agreed to pay him $500 to kill Clary. Gregory, like Manning, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.