Muscatine County Attorney Alan R. Ostergren announced today (December 12, 2018) that DARIAN DREW LENSGRAF, 19, of Muscatine was arrested for the offense of murder in the first degree from an incident in the early morning hours of December 12 in the City of Muscatine.
The Muscatine County Joint Communications Center (MUSCOM) received a 911 call at 3:33 a.m. reporting that a woman had been found stabbed to death at 2109 Breese Avenue in Muscatine. Officers and Muscatine Fire Department personnel immediately responded to the scene.
At 3:49 a.m. MUSCOM received a second 911 call from a clerk at a convenience store located at 709 Grandview Avenue in Muscatine. The caller reported that there was a male subject at the store holding a bloody knife. Officers immediately responded to that scene and made contact with DARIAN LENSGRAF. According to the criminal complaint DARIAN LENSGRAF made post-Miranda statements that he took the knife to the victim's house with the intent to kill the victim.
DARIAN LENSGRAF has been taken into custody. He will make an initial appearance at the Muscatine County Courthouse at 9:00 a.m. today.
UPDATE 10:43 a.m.:
DARIAN LENSGRAF made an initial appearance this morning before the Hon. Gary Strausser. The Court set bond at $5,000,000 cash-only. The Court scheduled a preliminary hearing for December 21, 2018, at 9:00 a.m. Under Iowa law the prosecution may file a trial information before the date set for preliminary hearing and if this is done there will be no preliminary hearing.
The victim of this incident has been identified by law enforcement as Diana Lensgraf (DOB: 12/12/1952). Diana Lensgraf was Darian's grandmother.
A mugshot of the defendant from today is not yet available. This is a mugshot from a prior occasion:
Today's mugshot: