HECKETHORN GUILTY OF SECOND DEGREE MURDER

Heckethorn guilty of second degree murder

A Wapello County jury has found an Ottumwa man guilty of second-degree murder in the 2018 killing of another man.  19-year-old Jacob Heckethorn was also found guilty Wednesday (11/13) of assault with intent to commit serious injury in the August 23, 2018, shooting death of 43-year-old William Shettlesworth of Bloomfield.  Heckethorn had been on trial for first-degree murder, but the jury convicted him on the reduced count after nearly two days of deliberation.  Heckethorn had argued he shot Shettlesworth in self-defense as he tried to rescue a friend from a fight.  Heckethorn faces up to 50 years when he’s sentenced in January.

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