THE DARK SIDE OF IOWA
Larry Babcock
#1029865
Full Name: Larry Alan Babcock
DOB: July 31, 1965
Charge: 2nd degree murder
County: Johnson
City: Iowa City
Current Status: Anamosa State Penitentiary
Date of Crime: June 30, 2001
Tentative Discharge Date: December 27, 2048
Victim: Timothy "Tim" Becker
DOB: July 31, 1965
Charge: 2nd degree murder
County: Johnson
City: Iowa City
Current Status: Anamosa State Penitentiary
Date of Crime: June 30, 2001
Tentative Discharge Date: December 27, 2048
Victim: Timothy "Tim" Becker
Almost five years after Timothy "Tim" Becker was murdered in his residence in Breckenridge Mobile Home Court, located at 4494 Taft Ave SE, Iowa City, the man who claimed to have found his body has been arrested for the crime. Tim died on June 30, 2001, of two blows to his head.
From the evidence presented at trial, the jury could find the following facts: Tim died of multiple blows to his head. Larry was one of Tim's neighbors. Larry and Larry's son, Bryan, were the ones who found Tim dead in his home and called the police. Larry and his wife moved to Arizona less than two months after the murder. They returned a few months later.
In the summer of 2003, Larry unexpectedly appeared at the home of his brother, Tom, and asked to go for a ride with him so they could talk. Larry did not want to talk in the house in front of others. Larry parked the car at the end of a dead-end road, patted Tom to make sure he was not wearing a "wire," and then told Tom he had killed Tim. Specifically, he told Tom he "beat [Tim], and I beat him bad," and that afterward he "covered his tracks really well" and "cleaned it with a fine tooth comb." Larry also asked Tom if he should go to his interview with law enforcement or "just take off."
The brothers had subsequent conversations in which Larry told Tom he was going to Missouri and told him not to talk to the police about what he had done. However, in approximately October 2003, Tom was interviewed by law enforcement and he told them that Larry had admitted to him that he had killed Tim. Tom agreed to tape record any telephone conversations he had with Larry. Apparently, Larry only called Tom a couple of times after that, and Tom recorded those conversations. During the phone calls, Larry discussed being interviewed by law enforcement and not wanting his son to be implicated in the murder.
From the evidence presented at trial, the jury could find the following facts: Tim died of multiple blows to his head. Larry was one of Tim's neighbors. Larry and Larry's son, Bryan, were the ones who found Tim dead in his home and called the police. Larry and his wife moved to Arizona less than two months after the murder. They returned a few months later.
In the summer of 2003, Larry unexpectedly appeared at the home of his brother, Tom, and asked to go for a ride with him so they could talk. Larry did not want to talk in the house in front of others. Larry parked the car at the end of a dead-end road, patted Tom to make sure he was not wearing a "wire," and then told Tom he had killed Tim. Specifically, he told Tom he "beat [Tim], and I beat him bad," and that afterward he "covered his tracks really well" and "cleaned it with a fine tooth comb." Larry also asked Tom if he should go to his interview with law enforcement or "just take off."
The brothers had subsequent conversations in which Larry told Tom he was going to Missouri and told him not to talk to the police about what he had done. However, in approximately October 2003, Tom was interviewed by law enforcement and he told them that Larry had admitted to him that he had killed Tim. Tom agreed to tape record any telephone conversations he had with Larry. Apparently, Larry only called Tom a couple of times after that, and Tom recorded those conversations. During the phone calls, Larry discussed being interviewed by law enforcement and not wanting his son to be implicated in the murder.
