Edward Kriz
Edward A. Kriz
43 YOA
Hamburg Inn No. 2
214 North Linn Street
Iowa City, IA
Johnson County
November 10, 1962
In the early hours of Saturday, November 10, 1962, Edward Kriz and his wife Bernice closed up George’s Buffet Tavern at 312 E. Market Street in Iowa City and invited an employee to go for coffee.
The three walked half-a-block from the tavern to the Hamburg Inn No. 2 at 214 North Linn Street.
About 1:45, they left the restaurant through the rear door and startled a would-be robber headed inside — a young man wearing a dark-colored jacket and trousers and a Halloween mask over his face. Without provocation, the young man opened fire.
Edward Kriz was struck in the arm, chest, and foot with .45 caliber bullets.
Someone later reported that a man — dark-haired, 5-feet 6-inches, 150 pounds — ran across a yard near the restaurant and jumped into a small foreign car and sped away.
Kriz was rushed to a hospital, where he died.
Iowa City Police requested the Iowa Bureau of Criminal Investigation assist in the investigation.
Courtesy photo Cedar Rapids GazetteActing on a tip, authorities arrested 18-year-old construction worker Robert Joseph Schneider for both the murder of Edward Kriz and for the October 6, 1962 armed robbery of Shannon’s Supper Club in North Liberty.
Joseph Schneider, 18, was charged with the murder of Edward Kriz.
At the time, Schneider, the son of Johnson County farmers Marcella and Francis Schneider, was on probation after being sentenced to 10 years for robbing a Coralville service station in 1961.
Schneider, a 1962 Cosgrove High School graduate, entered an “innocent” plea on both charges and was held on an open charge of murder without bond.
On December 14, a Johnson County grand jury indicted Schneider for both Edward Kriz’s murder and the North Liberty robbery.
Key grand jury testimony on the murder charge involved a missing top button from Schneider’s coat that matched a button found in a pool of blood seven inches from where Kriz fell wounded.
On January 21, 1963, Schneider’s trial for robbing the North Liberty supper club began. Johnson County Attorney Ralph Neuzil said Schneider needed money to pay a $70 car repair bill and had a $300 debt with a finance company for a car-boat deal.
Neuzil alleged Schneider entered the supper club wearing a silk stocking over his head and face, gave a note to the bartender, fired a shot into the ceiling, and fled with $700.
Supper club employees testified Schneider matched the physical description of the robber but could not positively identify him.
The robbery took place at 12:15 a.m. and Schneider’s landlords at 228 Brown Street in Iowa City said he borrowed their car and returned it no later than midnight the night of the robbery.
Schneider admitted writing the note given to the supper club bartender during the robbery but claimed he wrote it for his co-worker Glen Evans, a witness for the prosecution who testified Schneider bought a .45 caliber pistol from him (the type used to murder Edward Kriz).
The defense insisted Schneider wrote the note for Evans to use in the robbery and never bought a gun from him.
Courtesy photo Cedar Rapids GazetteRobert Schneider was found innocent on the robbery charge. Afterwards, Assistant County Attorney Edward O’Connor said the defense was “the most trumped-up . . . I’ve ever heard in my 42 years of the practice of law.”
On February 14, 1963, County Attorney Ralph Neuzil filed a motion to dismiss the grand jury indictment for murder against Robert Schneider because the evidence did not show him guilty “beyond a reasonable doubt.” Judge James Ganney sustained the motion.
Two days before his 19th birthday, on Friday, February 15, 1963, Robert Schneider walked out of the Johnson County Jail — where he’d been held since early November 1962 — a free man.
No one else was ever charged with the murder of Edward Kriz.
George’s Buffet Tavern and the Hamburg Inn No. 2 are still operating at the same locations in Iowa City.
Edward J. Kriz was born May 18, 1919 in Johnson County, Iowa, to Bohemian immigrants Mary E. Chambers and Fred James Kriz. He had two older siblings, Frederick John Kriz and Helen C. Kriz. On December 3, 1946, he married Bernice R. Tesar and they had two sons, Steven and Tom Kriz.
George's Buffett Tavern in Iowa City, owned in 1962 by Edward Kriz and his wife Bernice.
Kris was an Army veteran of WWII and owned and operated George’s Buffet Tavern at the time of his death.
Questions and information about the unsolved 1962 murder of Edward Kriz should be directed to the Iowa City Police Department at 319-356-5275, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office at 319-356-6020, or to Iowa Cold Cases via the Contact form.
We need help now to convict this man. My father, the victims son, has the button and possible dna evidence that could close the case for out family. The police wanted to reopen the case years ago while my grandma, Bernice, the victims wife, was alive, but she didn’t want to go through the ordeal again. She is now gone, and I would really like to see justice served against the man who stole the opportunity for me to know my grandfather.
Our condolences, Tim, on the loss of your grandfather, Edward Kriz. I have sent you an email with information about getting his murder case reopened. Good luck in your journey to find justice for your grandfather. Nancy Bowers
I am Ed Kriz’s neice. I would as my sister and brother, love to see this case reopened. Nothing was done right during the hearing, etc.. of the man that our family and all of my uncles friends, and most all of Iowa City, believe that there was more than enough evidence to convict him.. I hope that anyone remaining of my uncles friends would step up as well as all our family to request the murder case to be reopened..
Annette, Thank you so much for your comment. Tim Kriz, too, hopes that it can be reopened. One way to do that is to get the local media — print, TV, radio — to do a “cold case story.” That really does bring attention to the case. I suggested Tim contact Iowa City and/or Johnson County authorities to request a reopening and gave him the phone numbers, emails, etc. to do it. Perhaps the two of you can work on this together. Good Luck and all best.