From Deseret News archives:
Man pleads not guilty to killing Iowa coach
AP
Mark Becker
PARKERSBURG, Iowa — The man accused of killing an Iowa high school football coach has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.
Coach Ed Thomas was fatally shot on June 24 in a weight room in front of about 20 students at Aplington-Parkersburg High School in northeast Iowa.
Twenty-four-year-old Mark Becker, a former player, plead not guilty in a written plea on Thursday.
Online court records show that Becker demanded a speedy trial, which means he will have to stand trial within 90 days. No trial date was immediately set.
Becker remains in the Cerro Gordo County jail on $1 million cash bond.
Thomas coached for 34 years in the community about 80 miles northeast of Des Moines and had guided several players to the NFL.
