Press "Enter" to skip to content

Autopsy: Lederman Bondsman Dies of Gunshot at Office; FBI Involved

The 34-year-old man found dead in SDGOP chairman Dan Lederman’s Iowa City bail bonds office Sunday was killed by a gunshot:

Jonathan Wieseler
Jonathan Wieseler

The Iowa City Police Department on Wednesday released the preliminary results of Wieseler’s autopsy. The cause of death was determined to be a gunshot wound and the manner of death was determined to be homicide, authorities said.

Police do not have anyone in custody, but believe Wieseler’s death is an “isolated incident,” they said in a news release [Lee Hermiston, “Police: Jonathan Wieseler Was Shot to Death,” Cedar Rapids Gazette, 2017.04.26].

The Iowa City Police Department has reported that the victim “suffered multiple sources of trauma.”

The Iowa City PD statement suggests the shooting took place between 10 p.m. Saturday and 3 a.m. Sunday. It also notes that the FBI is participating in the murder investigation. Why would the FBI be involved in investigating a single, isolated murder in Iowa?

The Bureau concentrates on crime problems that pose major threats to American society. Significant violent crime incidents such as mass killings, sniper murders, and serial killings can paralyze entire communities and stretch state and local law enforcement resources to their limits. And particular investigative emphasis is put on criminal street gangs, crimes against children, child prostitution, bank robberies and other violent robberies, carjackings, kidnappings, fugitives and missing persons, crimes on Indian reservations, and assaults and threats of assault on the president and other federal officials [“What We Investigate: Violent Crime,” Federal Bureau of Investigation, retrieved 2017.04.27].

Murder can be a federal crime in various circumstances, including murder for hire and murders related to rape, child molestation, sexual exploitation of children, drugs, and bank robbery

Justice Department guidelines say “The FBI may provide investigative assistance to state, local, or tribal agencies in the investigation of matters that may involve federal crimes or threats to the national security, or for such other purposes as may be legally authorized.” Federal law authorizes FBI cooperation with state and local agencies in investigations of…

14 Comments

  1. Buckobear 2017-04-27 10:15

    Can’t see anything in those ‘guidelines” to justify FBI interference (er, help). Most local law enforcement hates to see the “feebies” show up since they know the cooperation will be one-way – – the Feds will provide no information and take all the credit.

  2. jerry 2017-04-27 11:51

    I find it interesting that EB5 Benda was murder was under much more of a cloud than this fellow, and yet, crickets regarding that, other than saying at one time, they were interested. This guy gets wacked and the Feds jump in immediately. Maybe the new SDGOP head of that family has significant ties to other families in other business relationships.

  3. Rorschach 2017-04-27 12:11

    The FBI may be involved because this guy was an agent working for a foreign agent of Saudi Arabia, and perhaps there is some international intrigue going on. Maybe this guy worked on the Donald Trump campaign, or maybe there was somehow a Muslim within a 3-mile radius of the crime scene. The press ought to interview the Saudi foreign agent this man worked for.

  4. DR 2017-04-27 12:12

    Why do you care so much about something that happened in Iowa. Its unfortunate this young man lost his life but b/c he worked for Lederman is THEE one and only reason you care…You will never convince me of that otherwise….

  5. Rorschach 2017-04-27 12:19

    You may be on to something, DR. When someone working for the Chair of the SD GOP Party is murdered in an office operated by the Chair of the SD GOP Party it generates interest. Good observation. I think you meant “THE” though.

  6. jerry 2017-04-27 12:20

    You may be closer than you think Mr. Rorschach. When you have an agent that worked for the same country that sent the 9/11 hijackers into the towers, it is intriguing. Why on earth would the South Dakota republican party put a man like this as their leader? Did they have a vote on his choice? How did this happen one wonders? What would Troy say?

  7. jerry 2017-04-27 13:40

    The gunshot wound kind of speaks for itself doesn’t it mfi? What do you mean?

  8. mike from iowa 2017-04-27 15:04

    Jerry- Police were called to Lederman at 11:11 a.m. Sunday where they discovered Wieseler’s body “with multiple sources of trauma.”

    Not sure how a suicide causes multiple traumas to his own person.Sounds suspicious, but so far no report what all the traumas were.

  9. jerry 2017-04-27 15:26

    The reading above clearly says homicide with death by gunshot. Sounds like he may have had the trauma and then was murdered. Either way, for the leader of the South Dakota republican party to be involved with a murder probably brings into question why they choose the dude in the first place. It seems to me that the kind of republican leadership that would schedule a meeting when the Democrats are having one next door is a clear sign of being a bully while living on the edge.

  10. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2017-04-27 15:33

    DR, I’m not trying to convince you otherwise. Other murders have taken place in Iowa this year. The Wieseler murder is blogworthy here specifically because it happened in an office owned and operated by a prominent South Dakota political figure.

  11. Roger Cornelius 2017-04-27 16:19

    Interesting that DR is holding his nose before all the facts of this murder are made public.
    No one knows who the suspect is or whether or not there is one.
    In the meantime it seems that Lederman would be making some kind of statement to the South Dakota GOP.
    It seems logical that Lederman would want to get out front of what could be a major scandal involving the chair of the SDGOP.
    To those claiming the murder is none of our business because it happened in another state, think again. A couple of years ago a Democratic candidate got caught with his pants down in North Dakota and Powers was all over it.

  12. Cory Allen Heidelberger Post author | 2017-04-28 06:25

    Jerry, on the feds, the U.S. Marshals Service participated in the Benda death investigation.

    Wieseler’s murder may just be another crime of the week. The location may be the only connection to the SDGOP chair. But if the Iowa location is not relevant to South Dakota, then why is a businessman who has most of his business holdings in Iowa relevant to South Dakota politics?

  13. mike from iowa 2017-04-28 08:53

    Let us neighbors not ferget it took iowa’s esteemed, much loved, Democrat Attorney General to put the skids on Marlboro Barbie’s bestest buddy and car dealer crook back when. Apparently wingnut South Dakota AGs are allergic to prosecuting other wingnuts.

Comments are closed.