Mt. Pleasant man guilty in slaying of I.C. bondsman

A Mt. Pleasant man, previously convicted of killing an Iowa City cab driver, was found guilty this week of fatally shooting an Iowa City bail bondsman.

Curtis Jones, 42, who represented himself at trial, was found guilty of first-degree murder in the April 22, 2017, slaying of Jonathan Wieseler, 34, at Lederman Bail Bonds in downtown Iowa City.

A Polk County jury deliberated about two hours Wednesday following a 7 1/2-day trial. The trial was moved from Johnson County because of pretrial publicity. Jurors were polled in open court and confirmed their unanimous verdict.

According to testimony, Jones fatally shot Wieseler, 34, in the bond office where he was working and also living for a time before he was to be married in June.

Wieseler was shot five times during a robbery.

Johnson County Attorney Janet Lyness was unavailable for comment Thursday.

Jones was convicted in November in a separate murder trial in the fatal shooting of cab driver Ricky Lillie, 46, on June 27, 2017.

Trial testimony showed Jones shot

Lillie while he was a passenger in Lillie's Yellow Cab.

Jones' sentencing is set for March 8 in Johnson County District Court in Iowa City. A first-degree murder conviction carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.

Friends of Wieseler, who earned a bachelor's and law degrees from the University of Iowa, told The Gazette earlier this month that Wieseler was a witty, 'astute observer” and a big fan of sports and movies.

Adam Santi of Coralville, one of Wieseler's friends, said Wieseler enjoyed being a bondsman and cared about his clients. His main focus was to marry his fiancee, Harmony Hauser, and someday have children, he said.

Santi and others had planned to take Wieseler to Las Vegas the following weekend for his bachelor's party.