Lu Verne, IA – A man accused of killing an Algona woman outside the Security State Bank in Lu Verne last year has changed his plea from not guilty to guilty.
35-year-old Valentino Williams of Coralville, Iowa change his plea during a hearing Friday morning in Kossuth County District Court after initially pleading not guilty in December. Williams admitted in court to killing 43-year-old Jessica Weishaar outside the bank in Lu Verne on the morning of December 4th, 2019.
Williams was arrested following a traffic stop along Interstate 35 in rural Franklin County little more than an hour after the shooting. Law enforcement was able to track down Williams vehicle after he was recorded driving over 80 MPH by a DOT Enforcement officer south of Belmond.
As a part of the plea deal, prosecutors dropped the 1st Degree Robbery charges against Williams.
Judge Nancy L. Whittenburg accepted the plea and handed out the mandatory sentence of life without parole.