Fullhart charged with murder

CRESCO - Friday morning, March 2, 2018, Brian Allen Fullhart, 34, was charged in Howard County District Court with Murder in the First Degree and Going Armed With Intent, in the March 1 death of his wife, Zoanne Fullhart.
 
Court documents say between the hours of 3-5 a.m. on March 1, at 700 S. Elm St., Cresco, “did go armed with any dangerous weapon with the intent and did use that weapon without justification such weapon against the person of another and displayed such weapon while firing upon law enforcement.”
Officers responded to a standoff situation with Fullhart. During that situation, on two separate occasions, the defendant fired upon law enforcement with a compound bow. At least one of those times, he struck a police squad car. 
Fullhart was ordered to exit the residence several times, but refused to comply.
Around 6 a.m. the suspect, was taken into custody without incident. A deceased female was found inside the residence.
 Since Howard County does not have a jail facility, all inmates, including Fullhart, are taken to the Winneshiek County jail. He arrived there at 10:20 a.m. on March 1.
Fullhart’s bail is set at $1 million, with a preliminary hearing on March 12 at 1 p.m. 
This was the third murder in Howard County in the past 21 years. The other two being when Bill Bean Jr. killed his father Bill Bean Sr. in January 1997; and when Clayton Irwin Thomas killed Angela Hyke and her daughter, Ashley Lucas in July 2001.
 
School canceled on March 1
Supt. Ted Ihns gave an explanation on the school’s Facebook page regarding canceling classes on March 1. “This message is to clarify today’s school closure. I received a phone call from the Cresco PD at approximately 6 this morning. The call consisted of the Cresco PD requesting Howard-Winneshiek Community Schools to have a two-hour late start because of a potentially dangerous situation that was occurring in Cresco. 
“The situation did not have anything to do with our schools or a school threat. The request for the two-hour late start was to keep students and buses away from the situation, as they never know how dangerous they may end up being.
“Because we already had a scheduled dismissal at 12:30 p.m. for today [March 1], it did not make sense to have students at school for only two hours.
“Based on all this information, I then made the decision to cancel school for the day.”
The following agencies are assisting in this investigation: Cresco Police Department, Howard County Sheriff’s Office, Iowa State Patrol and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.
 

Cresco Times

Phone: 563-547-3601
Fax: 563-547-4602

Address:
Cresco TPD
214 N. Elm Street
Cresco, IA 52136

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