Man pleads not guilty in infant death

Man pleads not guilty in infant death

Accused of killing his adopted son

October 3, 2008

Lee Hermiston

Iowa City Press-Citizen

A former Iowa City man accused of killing his infant son more than three years ago has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder.

Brian Dale Dykstra, now of South Carolina, was to be arraigned Thursday but filed a written plea of not guilty on Wednesday, according to court records. He is scheduled to stand trail on Jan. 26, 2009.

According to police, Dykstra, 31, was home alone with his adopted son, Isaac, on Aug. 13, 2005.

After receiving a 911 hang-up call from Dykstra's residence, police called back, and Dykstra said he thought the infant was having "a little seizure" and was having difficulty breathing.

Iowa City police and fire officers and Johnson County Ambulance personnel responded and found Isaac unconscious on the living room floor. He was taken to University Hospitals and diagnosed with massive brain swelling, severe bleeding inside the skull and retinal hemorrhaging. He was declared brain dead the next day.

Dykstra's story of what happened didn't add up for police, but he wasn't charged until August 2008, when Iowa City Police and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation concluded their suspicious death investigation, which placed the blame for the child's death on Dykstra.

Among the close to 40 potential witnesses listed in the trial information are six Iowa City police officers and nine doctors.

Iowa City attorney Leon Spies is representing Dykstra. If convicted, Dykstra faces 25 years in prison.