IA - Dominic Elkins, 5, brutally murdered, Logan, 31 Aug 2013 *Insanity*

Why would someone place a 5 year old child in a home with a much older child with those issues?
 
I feel so awful for everyone involved. I know it's easy from my position to rush to judgement, but it is very clear given each of these boy's issues that they needed adult supervision. Eyes on, or at least within earshot. Of an adult.

A seemingly small decision was made on the part of the foster mother, probably with the best intentions, and it has devastated the lives of so so many.
 
I feel so awful for everyone involved. I know it's easy from my position to rush to judgement, but it is very clear given each of these boy's issues that they needed adult supervision. Eyes on, or at least within earshot. Of an adult.

A seemingly small decision was made on the part of the foster mother, probably with the best intentions, and it has devastated the lives of so so many.

It sounds to me like the property where the boys were allowed to play unsupervised was very dangerous. Bricks and a ravine? It sounds like both boys could have been on the autism spectrum. I do believe the foster parents are responsible because of lack of supervision and even putting such a responsibility on a 12 year old child.
 
tragic for all involved

I feel bad for the foster parents
 
I feel so sorry for the little boy who was killed. According to his mother, he had severe behavioral problems and she put him in a residential treatment center last year. Poor little guy had all these iddues, yet he was placed as a foster child with this family two weeks ago and now he is dead. I don't want to look for blame here, but clearly this home was not the proper place for this little guy who needed supervision, dished out with lots of love. He was left there with a a twelve-year-old girl to watch him. He had only been at that place for two weeks, and he supposedly had all these issues - such a big burden for a five year-old to deal with, especially one who didn't live at home like normal five-year-old boys. I wonder why was left there while the foster mother went to get ice cream, taking the other 12-year-old twin and a friend. Whose friend? Was it mother's friend. Did the mother need a break?. Probably! Sounds like she had her hands full with the other foster kid too. So why was there no extra helping hands around this big house with all that property. This poor little guy, I wish something more positive had been done to help him before his life ended so tragically. RIP little Dominic.
 
Poor little guy had all these iddues, yet he was placed as a foster child with this family two weeks ago and now he is dead.

He had been in foster care for a year and this was his THIRD foster home. Sounds like he probably had problems in the other two homes too.

The accused killer had been in this home for 3 years and this is the first time he was violent. Kind of sounds like the 5 year old just pushed the older kid over the edge.
 
There is not much discussion about this tragedy and I can't find any information about the alledged killer Cody except through news articles. The information that has come out is contradictory to what the police say happened. Why would Cody come distressed alerting the 12 year old CHILD "it's Dominic"! if he was guilty of murder. He reported that Dominic accused him of not playing fair and began to hit himself in the head with bricks, then ran toward the ravine. If Dominic had only been there for 2 weeks he may not have been aware of the ravine or if he had a condition called autism, he wouldn't be aware of the danger of the ravine. Falling 20 feet down an embankment could certainly cause many cuts, abrasions, and bruises. If it happened as Cody said, he is not guilty of murder, but the foster parents should be guilty of negligent supervision resulting in death, imo. It has been stated by relatives that Cody had never been violent, but Dominic had severe self injurious and aggressive tendencies. Am I the only person who thinks Cody may be innocent? I wonder where Cody's relatives are, and I hope some competent attorney will step forward for the defense of this mentally challenged teen.
 
Am I the only person who thinks Cody may be innocent? I wonder where Cody's relatives are, and I hope some competent attorney will step forward for the defense of this mentally challenged teen.

Good post. Plus the police could easily intimidate a kid like Cody into confessing all sorts of things (even if the police did not do it maliciously).

The police interview/confession probably sheds more light onto the situation and may explain why they charged Cody with murder. They are experts in asking leading questions.
 
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/st...-defense-harrison-county-logan-iowa/18041169/

An Iowan accused of killing a 5-year-old boy and leaving his body at the bottom of a ravine will likely face years in state care, regardless of the outcome of his trial, legal experts said...

Metzker-Madsen has opted to have Judge Kathleen Kilnoski decide the case, rather than a jury. That may prove helpful to his defense, as a judge will likely have a better understanding of the law than a juror, said Susan Flander, an attorney who defended Becker...

In April, Kilnoski ruled that despite his “significant mental challenges,” Metzker-Madsen was competent to stand trial on the first-degree murder charge.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/st...sen-murder-trial-foster-mom-lawsuit/18061713/

The foster mother of an Iowa teenager charged with first-degree murder told a judge today that the teen had trouble "telling right from wrong" while playing with other children. Logan woman Julie Coolman, her husband and one of her teenage daughters testified this morning in the opening day of Cody Metzker-Madsen's trial...

Tuesday's testimony was the first public recounting of how Julie Coolman and her twin daughters found Elkins' body at the bottom of a wooded ravine behind the family's home where the kids often played. The family also detailed problems they'd had with Metzker-Madsen's volatile temper...

In March 2011, Julie Coolman sent an email to a teacher of Metzker-Madsen's saying, "Cody doesn't understand what is right and what is wrong when he is playing." She sent the email after an incident in which Metzker-Madsen had choked another child in foster care. Metzker-Madsen and other boys in foster care with the Coolmans watched professional wrestling on TV and believed they could mimic the grandiose moves on one another without hurting themselves, Coolman said.
 
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/st...29/cody-metzker-madsen-murder-trial/18119973/

During an interview with investigators, an Iowa teenager facing a murder charge angrily denied killing a 5-year-old boy, according to a video played in court today...

The teenager wore a Harrison County Jail jumpsuit and constantly moved as he spoke to the agents, the video showed. At one point he got on the floor to mimic himself sliding down the ravine. The interview finished after 2 a.m. "It is way past my bedtime," Metzker-Madsen told the agents at the beginning of the interview.

Metzker-Madsen consistently denied hurting Elkins as the agents questioned him on whether his story of the boy's death was true. "I don't kill," he said. "Stop blaming me for murdering. I'm not a killer."
 
---
"I loved the little guy, I would never hurt him," Cody Metzker-Madsen said during his testimony.
---
Metzker-Madsen said the two were playing a game that involved Roman mythology in the backyard. He said he went to his own world, which has slightly different colors and smells than the real world, and saw an army of "green, ugly little creatures."

He said the goblins were fighting people he knew and that the scene was similar to a video game he played.

He said he didn't know it was Dominic when he pushed his head into the water at the bottom of the ravine while hitting him with a brick.
---
http://www.startribune.com/nation/281770441.html
 
Foster sister details 5-year-old's death

LOGAN, Iowa —
New information is coming to light about the events leading up to the death of a 5-year-old boy whose body was found in a western Iowa ravine over the weekend.

Authorities said 17-year-old Cody Metzker-Madsen and Dominic Elkins had been living together in the same foster home since early August. On Saturday, Dominic's body was found in a ravine in rural Harrison County.

http://www.kcci.com/article/foster-sister-details-5-year-old-s-death/6883938

[has this thread been posted? ]
 
oh no little Dominic RIP angel
 
Teen at murder trial: I was fighting a goblin

[....]

"What do you want to tell the judge?" Williams asked his client in the opening minute of Metzker-Madsen's testimony.

"Well, basically the truth," Metzker-Madsen said. "What happened was that, I was playing with Dominic and I was in my own world when I was doing it … my own world is pretty hard to explain."

When Metzker-Madsen plays fantasy games, he is transported to a world of his own — one that has slightly different colors and smells than the real world, he testified. On the day of Dominic's death, the two boys were left alone playing a game involving Roman mythology in the backyard of their foster parents' home.

During the game, Metzker-Madsen went to his own world and saw an army of goblins, he testified. They were "green, ugly little creatures" that were fighting people he knew, he said. The scene was similar to something from Skylanders, a video game the teen played, he said.

At one point, Metzker-Madsen said he fought the goblins' commander, driving him to a ravine. When the goblin was struck by a root and fell to the bottom, the teen said he slid down the ravine and attacked with a sword and brick.

"I remember attacking him with it and smashing it into his face," Metzker-Madsen said.

"At that very moment did you realize it was Dominic?" Williams asked.

"No, I did not," the teen said. "I started pushing his head into the water as I was hitting him with a brick."

The teen testified he wanted to keep the goblin to make sure it wouldn't come back to life and fight him. Goblins are "kind of tricky little creatures," he said.

After killing the goblin commander, Metzker-Madsen said he was called out of the ravine by a screaming ally who needed his help. The "vision" finished after he helped the other person, he testified. He then went to tell his teenage foster sister that he couldn't find Dominic.

Last week, an associate state medical examiner testified Dominic died from blunt force injuries and drowning.

Metzker-Madsen testified that it wasn't until he was riding in a vehicle later that he realized he was involved in Dominic's death.

Metzker-Madsen got frustrated during cross-examination by assistant attorney general Denise Timmins. In charging documents, prosecutors noted that Metzker-Madsen provided more than one story for why Dominic died and was able to lead his foster family to his body.

On cross-examination, Metzker-Madsen said he told different people varying versions of the stories depending on a symbol that only he could see on top of people's heads. The symbol told him whether or not he could trust the person, he said.

[....]

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/s...iological-mother-testifies-in-trial/18538357/
 
Teen cleared by insanity in death of foster brother, 5

A judge ruled Friday that an 18-year-old was not guilty by reason of insanity in the beating and drowning death of his 5-year-old foster brother.

[....]

"This is a young man who has never been mentally normal," Kilnoski said. "Cody is a poor liar. His attempts to deflect blame are unsophisticated; his inner fantasy life is rich."

[....]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...uilty-insanity-foster-brother-death/18655713/
 

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