Webster City in Hamilton County
Hamilton County in Iowa
Barbara Brim
Homicide
Barbara Kay Brim
53 YOA
Rural farm home
Webster City, IA
Hamilton County (jurisdiction)
April 25, 2001
On Wednesday afternoon, April 25, 2001, Barbara Kay Brim, 53, was shot in her rural Hamilton County, Iowa home. Brim’s husband, Larry Brim, told officials he found his wife at the bottom of the basement stairs in their home near Webster City after spending the afternoon moving farm equipment. He said his wife was fine when the two had shared lunch just hours earlier. Brim died the following day.
Four Iowans lost their lives at the hands of others on this day in history. Methods of murder were particularly gruesome: an axe to the head while sleeping, a stab wound to the chest, a sledgehammer to the head, and even what appeared at first to be a simple case of falling down a staircase, but in fact turned out to be a gunshot to the head and neck.
Courtesy photo Chuck, findagrave.comThe primary suspect in two of the four cases involved a close family member.
One hundred and thirty-three years ago in 1879, Deborah Simmons, 62, of Waterloo, Iowa, retired for the evening with her husband, George, also 62. They owned and operated the New York House, a two-story hotel and stopping place for area farmers, and had a small bedroom off the dining room on the first floor. Their daughter Abby Simmons, 22, also had a bedroom on the first floor’s south side. Son George Simmons, Jr., 26, slept upstairs in the frame house’s northwest corner.
George Sr. awakened some time between 1:00 and 2:00 a.m. to what he thought was Deborah’s snoring. When he tried to awaken her, she made gasping sounds, and he called for his children; George Jr. ran outside to alarm neighbors.
Though an officer found the outside cellar door unlocked and the door from the cellar to the kitchen open, no footprints or other clues existed in the basement. Evidence existed that Deborah Simmons had been struck in the head with an axe, and that the blow occurred by a left-handed person. George Jr. was left handed, and was known to have quarreled with his mother about his recent divorce; he’d blamed his mother for the break-up.
David Redowl
A family feud also factored in to the evening when 27-year-old David Redowl of Sioux City was killed.
David and his 24-year-old sister, Sonja, both lived at home with their mother at 610 West 3rd Street. At approximately 2:00 a.m. on April 26, 1997, David and Sonja began arguing in the home’s back yard. Eventually, the disagreement escalated to a physical altercation. David soon fell to the ground, unconscious; he’d been stabbed in the chest.
Emergency personnel received a call at 2:07 a.m., but by the time authorities arrived, witnesses found it hard to agree on what really happened.
Michael J. Booth
Two hundred miles away in Des Moines, residents in an apartment building located at 510 15th Street noticed a foul odor coming from Apt. # 21. They notified the maintenance man and asked him to investigate.
Inside lay a man with injuries so extensive and decomposition so advanced he was unrecognizable. He’d been struck in the head … with a sledgehammer.
The victim was 45-year-old Michael Booth, a man his sister described as “smart, charming, and could sell anyone the Brooklyn bridge.”
Barbara Kay Brim, 53, died on April 26, 2001, after being shot in the head and neck the day before inside her rural Hamilton County home 15 miles northeast of Webster City. She’d just shared lunch with her husband, Larry, before he went out to a field to move farm equipment. When Larry came back to the house, he found his wife badly injured at the bottom of the inside stairs.
Barbara Brim
Barb was still alive when law enforcement arrived, and after being taken to a Webster City hospital, doctors discovered she’d actually been shot rather than having fallen down the steps as her husband first thought.
Larry Brim later discovered his wallet and some other items had been stolen from the home, and community members wondered if the killer had entered the home — believing no one was home — and then shot Barbara once she spotted them.
Larry Brim was eliminated as a suspect, and neighbors pitched in to help him with spring planting that year.
Our condolences go out to these victims’ family members and friends on this solemn day that serves as a reminder of justice not yet served.
Virgil Wilcox
Virgil L. Wilcox
Age at Report: 66
Weight: 175 lbs.
Height: 5’10″
Hair: Grey
Eyes: Blue
Race: Caucasian
Previously Missing From: Hamilton County
Since: November 1, 2007
Virgil L. Wilcox was reported missing to the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office in Webster City on November 1, 2007.
UPDATE: On July 26, 2012, a family out fishing in Little Wall Lake near Jewell, Iowa, discovered human remains in the lake.
The Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office said the partially decomposed body was taken to the state medical examiner’s office.
The medical examiner’s office said Wilcox’s death has been ruled a suicide with the cause of death listed as drowning. Authorities said foul play has been ruled out in Wilcox’s death.
Barbara Brim
Hamilton County in Iowa
Barbara Kay “Barb” Brim
53 YOA
Rural farm home
Webster City, IA
Hamilton County (jurisdiction)
April 25, 2001
On Wednesday afternoon, April 25, 2001, Barbara Kay Brim, 53, was shot in her rural Hamilton County, Iowa home.
Brim’s husband, Larry Brim, told officials he found his wife at the bottom of the basement stairs in their home near Webster City after spending the afternoon moving farm equipment. He said his wife was fine when the two had shared lunch just hours earlier.
When he came back to the house, Larry Brim said he found his wife at the bottom of the inside stairs, and believed she’d just fallen down the steps. He called for help, and though Brim was still alive when medics arrived, she was unable to provide any useful information about the killer or killers.
After being transported to a Webster City hospital, medical personnel notified law enforcement that Brim had been shot in the head and neck. Brim was airlifted to Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines, where she died the following day.
Deputy State Medical Examiner Dennis Klein performed an autopsy Saturday, which confirmed Brim died from a gunshot wound.
Hamilton County Sheriff Scott Anderson said Larry Brim had been ruled out and was not a suspect in his wife’s murder.
The remote location of the Brims’ rural home — approximately 15 miles northeast of Webster City — made it a prime target for burglars, a fact reinforced when Larry Brim told the sheriff’s office he’d found some items missing from the couple’s home, including his wallet. Three of the Brims’ five boys still lived at home but were in school when the murder took place.
Brim was a former high school Physical Education teacher, and former student Cindi Hoveland described her as “a sweet person,” and a “great mother to her boys.” The Brims’ two oldest boys had already graduated high school; the eldest, Mark, lived in Indiana, and Peter and his wife lived in Ankeny.
County officials offered a $30,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the homicide, hoping it would lead to clues in solving Brim’s murder, but the funds went unclaimed.
Barbara Brim’s murder remains unsolved.
Barbara Kay (Pantekoek) Brim was born February 14, 1948, in Pipestone, Minnesota, to Donna Moore and Edward Pantekoek. She graduated from Pipestone High School in 1966 and attended South Dakota State University.
She taught physical education classes at Webster City High School from 1970 to 1976, and from 1976 through 1982 served as Director of Physical Development and Recreation at Handicap Village, a private, nonprofit facility for adults with disabilities.
She married Robert Larry Brim in Pipestone, Minn., on January 2, 1982, and the couple had five sons: Kevin, Mark, Peter, Andrew, and Nicholas. Betty and Larry farmed northeast of Webster City.
Barbara was a member of the Congregational-United Church of Christ, Haystack Circle, and Hamilton County Hospice/Respite. She also volunteered with Compeer and Pleasant View School and was active in many church organizations.
Memorial services were held April 30 at the Congregational-United Church of Christ in Webster City with Pastor Jim Buffington officiating.
In addition to her husband and sons, Barbara was survived by her mother; her brothers Dick and Allen Pantekoek and numerous other relatives.
Anyone with information regarding Barbara Brim’s unsolved murder is asked to contact the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office at 515-832-9500 or e-mail hamcosheriff@wmtel.net. You may also send information to Iowa Cold Cases via our Contact form.
Hamilton County in Iowa
Barbara Brim
Homicide
Barbara Kay Brim
53 YOA
Webster City
Hamilton County, IA
April 25, 2001
On Wednesday afternoon, April 25, 2001, Barbara Kay Brim, 53, was shot in her rural Hamilton County, Iowa home. Brim’s husband, Larry Brim, told officials he found his wife at the bottom of the basement stairs in their home near Webster City after spending the afternoon moving farm equipment. He said his wife was fine when the two had shared lunch just hours earlier. Brim died the following day.
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