Friend: 2 people killed in quadruple murder near Marion lived in building where attack took place

Two of the four people who were beaten to death with a metal pipe in rural Linn County last week lived in the outbuilding where the attack occurred after being evicted from their home, according to a friend.

Amber Sangalli said Amanda Sue Parker, 33, and her boyfriend, Romandus “Roe” Lamar Cooper, 44, were evicted last summer and began living in an outbuilding at 3699 East Otter Road about two months later. near Marion.

Sangalli became friends with Parker when they started working as waiters at the Olde Brick House Pub at Lindale Mall in Cedar Rapids last year. She gave Parker a ride to work because the couple’s vehicle wasn’t working and it was difficult for Parker to get around.

Sangalli said Parker was “kind, generous and hard-working.” She was always busy and was always the first to help others whenever she had time during her shift.

She said Parker and Cooper had difficulty making a living and lived in a tent in an annex for almost a year. They also had two dogs.

The owner of the outbuilding and property is Lon Brown, the father of 34-year-old Brent Brown, who was also attacked on June 5 and died Friday of head and neck injuries. Lon Brown told The Gazette last Thursday that test results showed his son had no brain activity.

Linn County Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the property just before 4 p.m. on June 5 after a witness discovered four people in the annex with bleeding head wounds, according to a criminal complaint.

The complaint states that all of the victims – Parker, Cooper, Brent Brown and Keonna Victoria Ryan, 26, of Cedar Rapids – suffered blunt force trauma to the head.

The quadruple murder suspect, 34-year-old Luke Wade Truesdell, told officers he beat all four of them with a metal pipe. Investigators secured a pipe with blood and hair on it. The complaint states that video surveillance captured an image of Truesdell in the area of ​​the outbuilding.

Sangalli stated she did not know how Parker and Cooper knew Lon Brown or how they came to live on his property. She learned from Parker that Brent Brown and Ryan were in a relationship.

Both Sangalli and Parker also worked at a Subway restaurant. On the day of the killings, Parker replaced Sangalli, who had to attend her grandson’s birthday party around noon that day.

Sangalli said Parker was four hours late for his shift, but that was not unusual due to Parker’s transportation issues. They both planned lunch the next day.

Sangalli said Parker had left work at Subway just an hour and a half before the fatal attack.

When Sangalli picked up Parker from the annex, there were always a few people working on vehicles in the area, but she stated she had never seen Truesdell there and didn’t know him.

Sangalli said she has launched an online fundraiser at gofundme.com for the Parker family to help with mourning expenses. As of Tuesday morning, donors had donated $9,905.

Truesdell remains in the Linn County Jail on $4 million bail after being charged Monday with a fourth count of first-degree murder in the death of Brent Brown.

The complaint said Truesdell gave “several motives,” including that he thought a movie would be made about the killings. The remaining motives were not included in the complaint.

Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner declined to provide further details about how the deadly attacks occurred or whether Truesdell knew about the four people killed.

Both Gardner and Linn County Prosecutor Nick Maybanks said the investigation is ongoing and no further details will be released.

The Gazette attempted to contact family members other than Lon Brown, but they did not respond or declined to comment.

According to the Linn County Attorney’s Office, this is the first quadruple murder case in Linn County. According to the office, there have been two triple homicides – one committed by Alexander Jackson in 2021 and the other committed by Bruce Ferris in 1982.

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