March 29, 2024

Indiana man gets 30 years for attempted murder in Iowa

FORT DODGE — An Indiana man accused of killing a woman and burning her body has been sentenced to 30 years in an Iowa prison.

Webster County District Court records say 26-year-old Phillip Williams, of Lafayette, Indiana, was sentenced Monday in Fort Dodge. He'd pleaded guilty to attempted murder and abuse of a human corpse. He and 27-year-old Mackenzie Knigge were charged with first-degree murder in the August 2017 slaying of 26-year-old Jessica Gomez in Knigge's Clare apartment. Prosecutors lowered the murder charge against Williams in return for his pleas.

Knigge's trial is scheduled to begin June 10.