BURLINGTON — A 39-year-old man has been sentenced to life in prison for fatally shooting a Burlington bicyclist last summer. Joshua Royer, of Burlington, was given the mandatory sentence earlier this week. Last month a Des Moines County jury convicted Royer of first-degree murder for killing 50-year-old Eddie Martin. Royer also was ordered to pay Martin’s family $150,000 in restitution and the Iowa victim’s compensation fund nearly $35,000.
Prosecutors say Martin was shot as he sat on his bike at a Burlington street corner around 3 p.m. on Aug. 6. Royer, who owned the car that witnesses say the shot came from, did not testify during his trial.