Baller Alert
  • Home
    • News
    • Entertainment
    • The Baller Alert Show
    • Baller Alert Lists
    • Baller Alert Exclusives
    • Let Me Liv
    • Ballerific Music
    • That’s Baller
    • Fashion
    • Metaverse
    • Tech
    • Lifestyle
    • Sports
    • Op-Ed
    • Travel
    • Health
  • EVENTS
  • Videos
  • Shop
  • About
  • Political News
  • en español
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
    • News
    • Entertainment
    • The Baller Alert Show
    • Baller Alert Lists
    • Baller Alert Exclusives
    • Let Me Liv
    • Ballerific Music
    • That’s Baller
    • Fashion
    • Metaverse
    • Tech
    • Lifestyle
    • Sports
    • Op-Ed
    • Travel
    • Health
  • EVENTS
  • Videos
  • Shop
  • About
  • Political News
  • en español
No Result
View All Result
Baller Alert
No Result
View All Result

Iowa Man Receives Life Sentence; Killed Black Man By Setting Him On Fire

by Crystal Gross
December 18, 2021
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
Steven Vogel

Credit: Iowa Department of Public SafetyMICHAEL WILLIAMSCredit: Iowa Department of Public Safety

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

A judge in Iowa wasn’t playing around with due justice when he sentenced a white man to life in prison for the brutal murder of a Black man.

44-year-old Michael Williams’ body was found burning in a rural ditch last year, BET reported.

On Monday, Steven Vogel, 32, was sentenced at the Poweshiek County Courthouse by Judge Shawn Showers, who labeled Vogel as a “cold-blooded murderer.”

“You’re a cold-blooded murderer with hate in your heart,” Showers told Vogel. “These sentences are made for people like you who commit these horrific offenses and take others’ lives without any regard for consequences.”

Investigators admitted there wasn’t enough evidence that the killing was racially motivated, but the victim’s family members have called it a “lynching.”

“It’s putting that rope around his neck and holding it for over six minutes, causing his death, is the definition of a hanging. A lynching,” Williams’ aunt, Paula Terrell told IPR. “A white man lynched a Black man over a white woman.”

Vogel was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In November, an all-white jury in Keokuk County unanimously found him guilty of first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse. Vogel’s heinous crime also landed him five years for the mutilation of Williams’ body.

Williams’ family says he was a loving father and grandfather who lived in Iowa to be closer to his children.

According to court testimony from witnesses and a medical examiner, Vogel beat Williams. He then hanged him until he died. He kept Williams’ body in his basement for days and even showed it off to his friends before dumping it in a ditch and setting it on fire.

Vogel’s mother, Julia Cox, and her boyfriend, Roy Lee Garner, have been accused of helping Vogel move the body and burning it. Both were charged with one count each of abuse of a corpse, destruction of evidence, and accessory after the fact.

“You treated Michael Williams like he was not human,” Showers said. “You clubbed him. Strangled him to death. Kept him in your basement like an animal that you would kill. You wrapped up his body, set it on fire. And you dehumanized Michael Williams. And Mr. Williams did not deserve that.”

Williams’s family members were appreciative of the efforts of the judge, jury, witnesses, and prosecution. However, they question Iowa’s hate crimes laws and want to see them reformed.

“You thought you would get away with what you did,” Dante Williams, Michael’s son, told Vogel when family members gave statements. “You thought people didn’t care enough about him to research and find out what really happened. That is not the case. There’s a lot of love behind my father.”

Share this:

  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook
  • Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit
  • Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Discover more from Baller Alert

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Related Posts

Pacman Jones Enters Not Guilty Plea to Officer Assault Charge After Weekend Arrest
News

Pacman Jones Enters Not Guilty Plea to Officer Assault Charge After Weekend Arrest

June 11, 2025

Former Bengals player Adam “Pacman” Jones appeared in court Wednesday after being arrested over the weekend on charges of disorderly conduct,...

From “Ernie & Bert” to Escort Marathons—Diddy’s Ex Testifies to Three-Day Sex Parties and Emotional Manipulation
News

Diddy Kept Hosting Freak-Offs After FBI Raids, According to Jane Doe

June 11, 2025

Even after federal agents raided his Miami and Los Angeles mansions in March 2024, Diddy allegedly kept the party going....

National Guard
News

Texas Governor Deploys National Guard as Anti-ICE Protests Spread Nationwide

June 11, 2025

With protests erupting across the country in response to recent ICE raids, the movement has now reached Texas—and Gov. Greg...

FDA Approves Lab-Grown Salmon, Now Served In Portland Restaurant
News

FDA Approves Lab-Grown Salmon, Now Served In Portland Restaurant

June 11, 2025

For the first time ever, the FDA has greenlit a safety consultation for lab-grown fish, marking a major step forward...

Next Post
vaccine

Men Make Up 54.4% Of Fatal COVID Virus Cases; More Likely To Die Than Woman

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

Baller News

Subscribe To Our Newsletter

* indicates required

Follow Us

Subscribe to Blog

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

© Copyright 2024, Baller Alert Inc. All Rights Reserved

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
    • News
    • Entertainment
    • The Baller Alert Show
    • Baller Alert Lists
    • Baller Alert Exclusives
    • Let Me Liv
    • Ballerific Music
    • That’s Baller
    • Fashion
    • Metaverse
    • Tech
    • Lifestyle
    • Sports
    • Op-Ed
    • Travel
    • Health
  • EVENTS
  • Videos
  • Shop
  • About
  • Political News
  • en español
%d