Trial postponed indefinitely for Muscatine man charged with murdering woman near Nichols

Lang
11-21-20

Trial has been postponed indefinitely for a Muscatine man charged with shooting and killing a woman at a park east of Nichols.

24-year-old David Hatfield appeared at a pretrial conference in Muscatine County Court on Friday. Online records show that’s when Judge Marlita Greve set another pretrial conference for June 2nd. His trial was originally scheduled for last June, but it was later pushed back to December. A new trial date has not yet been set.

Investigators say Hatfield called 9-1-1 on October 16th, 2019 to report that 18-year-old Kaitlyn Palmer had shot herself in the head at the Saulsbury Recreation Area in rural Muscatine County. She was taken to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, where she died the next day.

Hatfield allegedly later admitted that he had shot Palmer in the head. In November of 2019 he pleaded not guilty to a charge of 1st Degree Murder, a Class A felony punishable by life in prison.

Hatfield is being held on $1 million bond.