OTTUMWA —
An Ottumwa man accused of murdering an adult movie theater manager is scheduled to go on trial next month.
Bruce Darnell Pollard, 25, has been charged with first-degree murder and first-degree robbery.
Law enforcement found the body of Kenneth McDaniel, 70, of Ottumwa, inside the front door of the Cinema X theater shortly after 11 a.m. on March 13, 2012.
The night before, police were called to the Sonic drive-in restaurant on North Wapello Street. They were told a gunman had robbed a carhop, stealing an undisclosed amount of money and fleeing on foot.
Two days after the murder on March 15, 2012, officers responded to an armed robbery at the Jefferson Street BP convenience store. They were told that a man had robbed the clerk and a customer at gunpoint, stealing an undisclosed amount of money and fleeing on foot.
Several hours later, Pollard was charged with going armed with intent and first-degree robbery in the Sonic stickup.
Later at the Wapello County Jail, he was also charged with going armed with intent and two counts of first-degree robbery in the gas station robberies.
The court recently ordered that the trials regarding the Sonic and gas station robberies “may be held beyond the one-year deadline.”
Two months after Pollard was charged in the robberies, he was hit with two other charges: first-degree murder and first-degree robbery in the Cinema X murder and robbery.
His jury trial is set to begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday, April 9.
Ottumwa
Related Photos
-
Bruce Pollard
Pollard murder trial set
- Ottumwa
-
-
Stabbing trial pushed back
OTTUMWA -- The trial of an Ottumwa man accused of stabbing another man to death has been pushed back. Twenty-year-old Brandon Seim was charged in November 2011, when he was 18, with the stabbing death of Andy Madren, 34. When officers arrived at the
- Downtown beautification supplemented with utility vehicle OTTUMWA -- A new utility vehicle will soon be zooming around downtown, making sure the rights-of-way remain in pristine condition. At Tuesday's city council meeting, council members approved the purchase of a city-owned vehicle to maintain downtown l
- Tornado creates local questions OTTUMWA — If there's a tornado in Wapello County, where would I go afterwards? It isn't hard to understand why local callers are asking Wapello County Emergency Management that question. Josh Stevens, emergency coordinator for the county, said since
-
Training goes beyond fires
OTTUMWA — Our firefighters aren't afraid to run into a fire, said one official, but when it comes to a Hazmat situation, they walk. On Wednesday, the Ottumwa Fire Department was on the grounds of Cargill Meat Solutions, training as realistically as p
- Veterinary clinic rezoned to commercial OTTUMWA -- The Ottumwa Veterinary Clinic is now officially a commercial district. At Tuesday's city council meeting, members voted 4-1 to approve the rezoning of the clinic from R-1 Single Family Residential to C-1 Commercial District, with Councilma
- Ottumwa lands 2015 Iowa Tourism Conference OTTUMWA — It takes two southeast Iowa communities to yank the opportunity to host the Iowa Tourism Conference from Des Moines. Ottumwa Area Convention and Visitors Bureau executive director Mark Eckman was stunned by how quickly the Iowa Tourism Offi
-
Barber shows no signs of cutting career short
OTTUMWA -- Darrell Smith's hands are steady and sure as he picks up his clippers and straight razor to begin his first haircut and shave of the day. Smith, 88, has cut hair for 62 years and has owned Smitty's Barber Shop on Albia Road for the past 58
- Roaring winds Southeast Iowa in clean-up mode after storm passes through OTTUMWA — Work crews in and around Wapello County put in a lot of hours. And they were ready to do it again. “We had the storms roll through there last night,” said Ryan Stensland, a spokesman for Alliant Energy. “Down in southeast part of the state,
-
Flood debris removal up for consideration
OTTUMWA — A month after heavy rainfall caused rivers and streams to flood Ottumwa streets and homes, the city council will solidify a plan to remove the debris left behind. At the council's meeting tonight, members will consider awarding the $12,500
-
Reviving downtown's upper stories
Building by building, the upper stories of downtown Ottumwa are coming back to life after some have sat empty for half a century.
- More Ottumwa Headlines
-
