Lang
7/31/21
A Muscatine man has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering his girlfriend near Nichols.
Judge Mark Cleve issued the sentence for 24-year-old David Hatfield on Friday.
A Muscatine County jury found Hatfield guilty of first-degree murder last month.
Prosecutors say Hatfield shot 18-year-old Kaitlyn Palmer in the head with a .22-caliber handgun as she slept at Saulsbury Recreation Area in rural Muscatine County.
Investigators say Hatfield called 9-1-1 on October 16th, 2019 to report that Palmer had shot herself in the head. She was taken to the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, where she died the next day.
Prosecutors argued Hatfield shot Palmer because of an unwanted pregnancy.