A Waterloo man’s conviction for killing his wife and setting her body on fire has been upheld by the Iowa Court of Appeals. Now 33 year old Fredrick Williams was convicted of murdering his wife, 40 year old Lakisha Owens, and then burning her body and leaving it in a wooded area behind Garden of Memories Cemetery. In his appeal, Williams argued that testimony about his prior abuse of Owens and threatening her with a gun and hitting her with a crowbar were unfairly prejudicial. The appeals court found that the evidence of earlier violence established motive and showed intent to kill and was not unfair.
