THE DARK SIDE OF IOWA
Darla Countryman
#0808171
Full Name: Darla Dee Countryman
DOB: June 12, 1957
Charge: 1st degree murder
County: Polk
City: Des Moines
Current Status: Iowa Correctional Institution for Women
Partner in Crime: Raymond Countryman
Date of Crime: June 15, 1995
Tentative Discharge Date: Life
Victims: Madelyn and Dorothy Miletich
DOB: June 12, 1957
Charge: 1st degree murder
County: Polk
City: Des Moines
Current Status: Iowa Correctional Institution for Women
Partner in Crime: Raymond Countryman
Date of Crime: June 15, 1995
Tentative Discharge Date: Life
Victims: Madelyn and Dorothy Miletich
Madelyn Miletich, 83, and her sister, Dorothy Miletich, 77, shared a Des Moines apartment. They were befriended by Darla Dee Countryman and her husband, Raymond "Ray" Countryman. Ray was a maintenance worker for the apartment complex. On June 15, 1995, the two sisters were packing their belongings in anticipation of their planned move to Missouri. Darla invited the two sisters to spend the night in her and Randy's quarters in the complex, rather than a local hotel. Notwithstanding a reservation the sisters had made there, they did not appear at the hotel and were not thereafter seen alive.
Six days later, on June 21, Darla and Ray left Des Moines in their pickup trucks and drove to Nebraska where they stole a car. The next day, Darla was found aimlessly wandering, confused and incoherent, in Morris County, Kansas, on a farm owned by Rex and Susan Osborne.
Rex summoned authorities and Darla was taken by deputy sheriff Scott Coover to the sheriff's office where she spoke extensively with Vicki Hewitt, a police dispatcher. Vicki did not understand the conversation as an inquiry into a crime, but rather as an effort to learn Darla's identity. The conversation lasted from 11:30 PM on June 22, to approximately 2:15 AM on June 23. Vicki though Darla appeared to be under the influence of drugs. Darla stated she saw little aborigine men and little black bugs crawling on the walls and heard them speaking to her.
During the conversation, Darla stated that she had stolen a car. She also told of her family in Iowa, various run-ins with the law, blood in her apartment, Darla's mother's missing property, drug use, and possession of savings bonds. Darla provided no directly incriminating evidence concerning the murder, but did express concern for the sisters, mentioning that something bad had happened to them.
On the basis of a separate investigation conducted by the sheriff's department, Darla was arrested for the theft of the car she and Ray had stolen in Nebraska. The car was seized and its search revealed more than $100,000 in bonds belonging to the sisters, as well as their checkbooks and credit cards. Other items found in the car included wigs, new clothes, several purses, and notes that Darla and Ray and written during their drive.
Six days later, on June 21, Darla and Ray left Des Moines in their pickup trucks and drove to Nebraska where they stole a car. The next day, Darla was found aimlessly wandering, confused and incoherent, in Morris County, Kansas, on a farm owned by Rex and Susan Osborne.
Rex summoned authorities and Darla was taken by deputy sheriff Scott Coover to the sheriff's office where she spoke extensively with Vicki Hewitt, a police dispatcher. Vicki did not understand the conversation as an inquiry into a crime, but rather as an effort to learn Darla's identity. The conversation lasted from 11:30 PM on June 22, to approximately 2:15 AM on June 23. Vicki though Darla appeared to be under the influence of drugs. Darla stated she saw little aborigine men and little black bugs crawling on the walls and heard them speaking to her.
During the conversation, Darla stated that she had stolen a car. She also told of her family in Iowa, various run-ins with the law, blood in her apartment, Darla's mother's missing property, drug use, and possession of savings bonds. Darla provided no directly incriminating evidence concerning the murder, but did express concern for the sisters, mentioning that something bad had happened to them.
On the basis of a separate investigation conducted by the sheriff's department, Darla was arrested for the theft of the car she and Ray had stolen in Nebraska. The car was seized and its search revealed more than $100,000 in bonds belonging to the sisters, as well as their checkbooks and credit cards. Other items found in the car included wigs, new clothes, several purses, and notes that Darla and Ray and written during their drive.
Source: FindLaw