Mt. Pleasant man charged with murder in 20-year-old case

A Mt. Pleasant man has been charged with a 20-year-old murder.

The Johnson County Sheriff?s Office says Stephen J. Klein, 54, of Mt. Pleasant was arrested the morning of Friday, July 17, for the 1995 murder of Susan Kersten, 38, of Iowa City.

According to reports, emergency dispatchers received a call just before midnight on Sept. 24, 1995, reporting a car on fire in a field not too far south of the mobile home park where Kersten lived.

Kersten?s body was discovered inside the car after the Hills Fire Department put the fire out.

An autopsy at the time determined that Kersten had been killed by blunt force trauma prior to the car fire.

Investigators believe Kersten?s car was staged to make the death appear to be the result of a car crash and fire.

Klein was taken into custody late Friday morning at his work place in Muscatine.

Klein remains in the Johnson County Jail on $1 million cash-only bond.