Man accused of killing infant requests trial delay

A former Iowa City man accused of killing his infant son nearly four years ago has requested his trial be pushed back.

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Brian Dale Dykstra, now of South Carolina, was scheduled to go to trial on Aug. 17. His final pretrial conference was scheduled for Aug. 6. However, his attorney Leon Spies filed a motion of continuance on July 31 asking for more time.

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.

If convicted, Dykstra faces 25 years in prison on the second-degree murder charge.