Police arrest 4 people in connection to Des Moines man’s death in Newton home

Four people have been arrested and charged in connection with the death of a Des Moines man whose body was found in a Newton home earlier this month when authorities were issuing a search warrant. The death of 66-year-old Tomie Lee Misner Jr. is still under investigation, and a cause is still undetermined.

Jeffrey Stevens, 53, of Newton; Scott Mabrier, 63, of Des Moines; Thomas Olofson, 47, of Hudson; and Alysha Buell, 36, of Des Moines, have been charged by Newton Police Department with abuse of a corpse (Class C felony) and obstruction of prosecution or defense (aggravated misdemeanor).

Investigators allege all four are involved in concealing or destroying physical evidence, failing to disclose the death and attempting to conceal and dispose of the body. Newton Police Department said in a June 25 press release that officers are still away the results of an autopsy and toxicology report.

Newton Police Department was assisted in the investigation by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Jasper County Sheriff’s Office, Mid-Iowa Narcotics Enforcement, the Drug Enforcement Administration and Jasper County Attorney’s Office. Anyone with information should call Newton Police at 641-791-0850.

On June 9, local, county and federal law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at a home in the 1200 block of North Fourth Avenue East in Newton. When executing the warrant, law enforcement found a deceased adult male inside the home. The male was identified as Misner later that week.

Sources told Newton News the search warrant involved drug crimes.