Story Created:
May 15, 2008 at 5:35 PM CDT
Story Updated:
May 15, 2008 at 5:35 PM CDT
IOWA CITY - People living in an Iowa City neighborhood want to find a way to remember three children who were brutally murdered by their father earlier this year. In late March, Steve Sueppel beat his wife and four kids to death before taking his own life in a car crash.
The plans for a memorial are hard to come by. The secretary at Longfellow Elementary School says as many as a dozen different news outlets from outside eastern Iowa have contacted her asking for information about a possible memorial. At least one call came from Colorado. But the secretary keeps telling them no one will comment. That makes it difficult to find out about a memorial.
The district superintendent says a letter sent out to parents mentioned the idea of a memorial for the Sueppel children. Three of the four went to school at Longfellow. Superintendent Lane Plugge says it's not uncommon to have a memorial on school grounds. He said, "We have art work that's been donated in memory of a former student that died, staff members that have left and retired sometimes we'll have memorials like that."
Police discovered the bodies of Steve Sueppel's family in their Iowa City home on March 24th. He apparently beat them all with a blunt object like a baseball bat. Later in the morning they found Sueppel dead in his car which had crashed on I-80. Sueppel had allegedly embezzled half a million dollars from Hills Bank.
Longfellow Elementary is receiving some donations for a memorial.
Email Steve Nicoles at Steve.Nicoles@kcrg.com
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Saturday, May 17 at 1:24 PM I agree wrote ...
I hate to say this, but "Go Mexico" sounds like one of the smartest people I've seen post on this, he/she must not be Iowan :) Rock and a hard place, really anonymous, really?
Friday, May 16 at 10:58 PM Anonymous wrote ...
Let it Go!!!!
Friday, May 16 at 10:39 PM Anonymous wrote ...
Go Mexico...why don't YOU go to Mexico. Quit trying to be God.
Friday, May 16 at 1:37 PM go mexico! wrote ...
OK I see, he wasnt evil, he just made a mistake. Heck the same thing happened to me. I accidentally murdered my whole family. I guess accidents do happen.. Those darn rocks and hard places. Hmm Let me see; do i murder my family or just go to work and be a normal person, such hard decisions. Thanks Anonymous' for setting me straight.
Friday, May 16 at 1:07 PM go mexico! wrote ...
I suppose you take offense to the media running the story over and over again describing the event as "brutal" The media loves stories like these because it sells papers and gets the ratings.The motto is, "if it bleeds it leads" So annonomous dont get mad at me. Get mad at the media who will no doubt mention this story again and again.. Oh by the way I didnt butcher little kids and smash their skulls, so I'm not evil.
Friday, May 16 at 12:40 PM Anonymous wrote ...
go mexico, YOU need to get a clue. You can't judge a person on one horrible incident, the poor man was sick. If you knew him you'd know that was true. By the nasty words you said about him I could say you're some horrible, awful person, too. Do you think his family needs to read that garbage you wrote? They're suffering enough w/o people like you thinking you need to get your opinion on the subject out there. Again, GET A CLUE!!!
Friday, May 16 at 12:33 PM Anonymous wrote ...
Steven Sueppel wasn't evil...he was just stuck between a rock and a hard place..and made a very wrong decision. He is still with his family.
Friday, May 16 at 3:47 AM go mexico~! wrote ...
I cant believe the local media didnt again say what a great dad he was.. Get a clue! This guy was an evil, arrogant, piece of garbage who did the world a favor by killing himself.. Good job local media, you finally got it right!
Friday, May 16 at 2:50 AM Anonymous wrote wrote ...
YES, I agree, all 4 should be remembered, just because there was a younger one that hadn't started school yet, she too, should be remembered with the other 3.She probably would have atteneded longfellow and followed in the previous 3 footsteps.
Thursday, May 15 at 7:48 PM Anonymous wrote ...
why only 3 there were 4 children they should all be remembered not just some!
Thursday, May 15 at 6:05 PM ken wrote ...
I think thats a wonderful idea to have a memorial for the kids.
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