Courier reporter Jeff Reinitz picks his Courier stories of 2024
By JEFF REINITZ – Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Iowa (TNS)
Each December, Courier reporters look back at their favorite stories of the past year. We ask them to pick their favorites: not necessarily the biggest stories of the year, just the ones they found most interesting.
Some are heart-warming. Some are amusing. Some are wistful. We hope you find all of the articles collected here to be interesting.
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Traffic cameras, like the ones at U.S. Highway 218 and Mitchell Avenue in Waterloo, need permits from the Iowa Department of Transportation under a new law passed by the Legislature.
State takes away Waterloo’s speed cameras
A moneymaker that brought more than $1 million a year to city coffers disappeared overnight.
In October, state laws moved oversight of automated speeding tickets cameras to the Iowa Department of Transportation, which turned down Waterloo’s 23 stationary cameras and the majority of speed cameras around the state.
Waterloo began using speed cameras years ago, with recent tallies putting annual revenue at $1.16 million. Automated speeding ticket money was used to pay for the police department’s $400,000 a year body camera system, and the rest went into the city’s general fund.
The state law that went into effect in 2024 dictated speed camera proceeds go to transportation infrastructure and police and fire expenses. It also set speed thresholds for tickets and set capped tickets for 10 to 20 mph over the speed limit at $75, and up to $500 for more than 30 mph over.
The law also placed a moratorium on approving new speeding ticket cameras until the summer of 2026.
The Waterloo Police Department appealed the Department of Transportation’s decision to deny the city’s speeding cameras.
The cameras can still issue tickets for red light violations.
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The rural Decorah farmhouse where James David Bachmurski lived, and where Jade Marie Colvin disappeared in 2017, has since been torn down. The property is under new ownership.
Authorities think missing teen was murdered
In August, authorities announced they believe a teen who has been missing for seven years died at the hands of a former Decorah man.
Jade Marie Colvin was 14 when she was reported missing in 2016.
Details about the circumstances of her disappearance are sparse, but in 2024 officials charged 65-year-old James David Bachmurski with murder in Jade’s death.
Bachmuski had lived on a farmstead south of Decorah where he leased the land to hunters and once ran a corn maze.
Court records allege Jade had traveled to live at the farm in 2017. Shortly after that, friends could no longer contact her.
Video: “No Body” murder cases in Iowa
Nationwide, more than 550 “no body” homicide cases have gone to trial. About 86 percent of the no-body murder trials resulted in conviction, compared to a 70 percent conviction rate for all murder cases. Such cases aren’t unheard of in Iowa.
Authorities believe she died sometime around March 30, 2017. A cause of death hasn’t been disclosed, and investigators haven’t said if her remains were ever found.
Bachmurski, who had other legal entanglements from assault and gun charges, sold the farm in 2018 and apparently left Iowa in 2019. He was found living in Georgia in 2023.
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Randy Lee Patrie is led from the courtroom after a jury found him guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Ken Gallmeyer on May 23.
Man convicted in Clarksville grocer’s 2012 slaying
The family of a retired Clarksville grocer who was killed more than a dozen years ago finally saw justice in 2024.
Carl “Ken” Gallmeyer, 70, was found dead in October 2012, shot to death amid the disarray of his ransacked home in rural Nashua.
The crime remained a mystery for about a year, until police investigating a burglary found Gallmeyer’s TV hanging on the bedroom wall of a Charles City home. Gallmeyer’s tools were in the garage, and his guns were also in the home.
The resident of the home was named Randy Patrie.
Video: Guilty verdict in 2012 Nashua homicide
Randy Lee Patrie was found guilty of murder in the September 2012 death of Ken Gallmeyer in Nashua Iowa.
Authorities initially tried Patrie in federal court, prosecuting him on firearm charges, finding he was involved in Gallmeyer’s death based on a preponderance of the evidence and winning a life sentence under armed career criminal enhancements.
But Patrie escaped that life sentence on appeal in 2016, with a higher court ruling the enhancements didn’t apply.
State officials filed murder charges against Patrie in 2022. The case finally went to trial in May 2024 with jurors finding Patrie guilty of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison.
(c)2024 Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier (Waterloo, Iowa)
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