Iowa City man accused of killing wife to take plea deal

IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) - The Iowa City man accused of killing his wife of 42-years is scheduled to enter a plea deal this week.

Roy Browning, Jr., 70, was slated to face trial in November for first-degree murder. Prosecutors say he stabbed his wife, JoEllen Browning at their home in Iowa City in April 2019. She was 65 at the time of her murder.

Court documents show Browning is slated to enter a plea agreement at a hearing Wednesday in Johnson County Court, though the specifics of the charges have not been filed.

Court documents detailed financial struggles between the couple in the weeks leading up to JoEllen’s murder. Investigators claim Roy had been lying to his wife about their finances and she had discovered it days before she was found dead.

The Iowa DCI Laboratory in Ankeny examined the blood under JoEllen’s nails, and they found DNA that was not hers; they identified DNA belonging to Roy in the test.

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