DES MOINES, Iowa — A jury in Polk County convicted a man of first-degree murder Wednesday in connection to the 2021 death of 30-year-old Rachel Reuter, according to the Polk County Attorney's office.
“The relentlessness of investigation by law enforcement and the quality of the evidence made the difference in this case,” said Polk County Attorney Kimberly Graham in a statement.
48-year-old James Klever, of Osceola, will serve a mandatory life sentence with the possibility of parole.
During his trial, Klever testified that he and Reuter got in a fight and he hit her on the head.
Reuter, who was originally from Wisconsin, had two children. She was reported missing on June 16, 2021. Her body was never found.
According to surveillance video, Klever and Reuter walked out of a Super 8 Motel in Urbandale on June 12, 2021.
Cellphone data indicates Klever and Reuter were together at a home in Bondurant that night.
Over the course of several months, investigators found evidence that Klever killed Reuter in a garage in Bondurant on June 13 and put her body in the trunk of his vehicle.
Klever, who admitted selling methamphetamine, told a witness that he believed Reuter was an informant. He also told the witness he disposed of the body near Cainsville, Mo.