Iowa Gov. Branstad Tells Parents of Murdered, Missing Children Death Penalty Legislation Unlikely

Parents of some of Iowa’s missing and murdered children said they won’t give up until Iowa reinstates the death penalty, despite Gov. Terry Branstad’s earlier statements that it won't be a priority when the Legislature convenes in January.

Branstad supports capital punishment in some circumstances and said he sympathizes with parents, but said Democrats who control the Iowa Senate would likely block it, the Des Moines Register reported.

The discovery two weeks ago of the bodies of missing Evansdale cousins Elizabeth Collins and Lyric Cook-Morrissey has renewed talk about restoring the death penalty to keep Iowa children safer. Authorities say there is a strong likelihood the girls were murdered after they were abducted while taking a summer bike ride in July.

Iowa's death penalty was abolished in 1965 and an execution hasn't occurred in the state since 1962, when an inmate beging held on a federal charge at the state prison at Fort Madison was hanged.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Sen. Robert Hogg, a Cedar Rapids Democrat, confirmed the legislation isn’t a priority for his party. "There is just no need” for it, Hogg said, according to the newspaper.

Sen. Ken Sorenson, a Milo Republican, said that although he thinks restoring the death penalty is an uphill battle in Iowa, it’s an important response in cases where two Class A felonies are committed, such as kidnapping and murder, are committed.

Among those meeting Monday with the governor were Drew and Elizabeth Collins, parents of one of the Evansdale cousins whose bodies were discovered two weeks ago in a wooded area; Noreen Gosch of West Des Moines whose son, Johnny, vanished 30 years ago on his Sunday morning newspaper route; Adonnis Hill, whose daughter Donnisha was kidnapped in Waterloo and murdered in 2006; and Andy Christie, father of Evelyn Miller, who disappeared in 2005 from her family’s apartment in Floyd and was sexually assaulted and killed.

Death Penalty Advocates Say Children More Vulnerable Now

Sorenson thinks Iowa children are more vulnerable to kidnappers because the state doesn’t have capital punishment. He said Iowa laws almost encourage kidnappers to kill their victims because the punishment – life in prison – is the same for both crimes. He calls the death penalty "capital justice," rather than capital punishment.

Drew Collins said last week that he and his wife forgive their daughter’s kidnapper and likely killer, but still thinks the death penalty is an appropriate punishment.

"If someone murders a child, they need to be punished severely," Collins told reporters before a Thursday memorial service for Elizabeth in Cedar Falls. "Anyone that murders a child, they don’t deserve to be with us anymore. It’s just unacceptable."

He and Heather have often spoken about their strong Christian faith and said they forgive the person or persons who kidnapped and killed their daughter and niece. But they still want to see the culprit face capital punishment.

"I can forgive someone and Heather can forgive someone, but they still have to meet justice. They have to be punished for what they’ve done," he said. "It’s just not fair that they can take a life and can sit in prison and live their life out. And their family can go see them. We don’t get to see our daughter. She’s gone."

After today’s meeting with the governor, Heather Collins vowed to fight and “not give up,” the newspaper reported.

“To me, it is criminal that we don’t protect our children,” Drew Collins added. “If we don’t protect our children, what are we as a society?”

Sorenson Looks for Democratic Allies

Noreen Gosch told Patch Iowa has a “kidnapping problem” that won’t be abated until the death penalty is restored.

She said that from the third week in June to mid-October, Iowa had 42 kidnapping attempts, “more than we have ever had during that block of time in over 30 years.”

“We need it,” Gosch said. “What we are doing to protect children is not working. We must do something different.”

She said the meeting with Branstad was productive.

Sorenson said he will try to find allies among Senate Democrats, but acknowledged discussions likely won’t lead anywhere until “the people of Iowa rising up and saying this is what they need," the Register reported.

Iowans Against the Death Penalty spokesman Marty Ryan said legislation restoring capital punishment has no chance of passing.