BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — Prosecutors say a jury in the trial of a man accused of gunning down a Burlington bicyclist in August may never know why the man was fatally shot, but they’ll know who shot him.
The Hawk Eye reports a jury was empaneled Wednesday and opening statements delivered in the trial of 39-year-old Joshua Royer, of Burlington. He’s charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of 50-year-old Eddie Cooper Martin.
Justin Stonerook, an assistant Des Moines County attorney, says evidence presented in the trial will show Royer shot Martin three times from his car as Martin was riding his bike in August. But Royer’s attorney, James Beres, says evidence will instead reveal poor police work and witnesses who didn’t actually see the shooting.
