FILE 420 / 2 September 2023 / 71 MIN / express

Cheating, Lies & Corn Rakes

Earlville, IowaListen

The town

N ↑Town centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

We're going to Earlville, in northeastern Iowa, between Cedar Rapids and Dubuque. about 0:04:10

History, in brief

1852

In 1852 George M. Earl came to the area with his wife and family and settled it, and the town was named Earlville after him.

about 0:05:31

Town note

The town was once known as Nottingham, after a stockholder in the railroad, but was renamed Earlville because of a conflict with another nearby community called Nottingham.

about 0:05:38

1883

In 1883 the Masonic Town Hall was organised and a three-story brick building was built for five thousand dollars.

about 0:06:01
All 3 history facts

1852

In 1852 George M. Earl came to the area with his wife and family and settled it, and the town was named Earlville after him.

about 0:05:31

Town note

The town was once known as Nottingham, after a stockholder in the railroad, but was renamed Earlville because of a conflict with another nearby community called Nottingham.

about 0:05:38

1883

In 1883 the Masonic Town Hall was organised and a three-story brick building was built for five thousand dollars.

about 0:06:01

The figures, as told

Money

Median home value$204,000
Median household income60,127
All figures and comparisons, as told in 2023

Median household income

"60,127"

Comparison: "a few thousand higher than the national average". Direction: above.

As told in 2023 about 0:04:43

Median home price

"$204,000"

Comparison: "much lower than the national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2023 about 0:04:49

The reviews

4.5 / 5 · average of 2

5 stars

“Never had any problems, and if we do, someone's there right away to take care of it.”
about 0:06:42

4 stars

“If I could live here for the rest of my life I would; the neighbours are wonderful and wouldn't be traded for anything.”
about 0:06:57

In Iowa

Closest episodes

  1. Sex, Family & Wire HandcuffsClarence, Iowa · 28 April 202269 km / 43 miShow on map
  2. Death Of The Dog LadyBellevue, Iowa · 14 June 202573 km / 45 miShow on map
  3. Dark Past, Scarier PresentMineral Point, Wisconsin · 5 April 201899 km / 62 miShow on map
  4. The Brutally Batted BartenderWest Liberty, Iowa · 11 September 2026101 km / 63 miShow on map
  5. Black Candle Murder PartyWest Liberty, Iowa · 18 September 2026101 km / 63 miShow on map

The story

Earlville, Iowa, is a farming town of 891 people in Delaware County, in the north-east of the state between Cedar Rapids and Dubuque. It was settled in 1852 by George M. Earl and his family, was once called Nottingham after a railroad stockholder, and took its present name after a conflict with another nearby Nottingham. In 1883 the town built a three-story brick Masonic Town Hall for five thousand dollars. Online reviews of the town are few and praise its quiet and its neighbours.

He bought his first farm in 1999 at the age of nineteen and built the operation up to three farms and part of another. In 2003 he met Amy at the Delaware County Fair; they married in 2004 and she moved onto the farm. They had three children, boys in 2005 and 2010 and a girl in 2007. Amy worked in healthcare rather than on the farm. In 2013, after about ten years of marriage, she had an affair with someone at work.

In June 2018 Amy began an affair with Jerry Fraser, who oversaw the farm's hog operation. They met on the farm, on back roads and occasionally in hotel rooms, sometimes more than once a week. Jerry said the messages were about showing pigs. Amy told friends she was quietly looking for a job and a place to live.

On 6 November 2018 Amy had an outpatient ablation and was told not to lift more than ten pounds. At 10.12 a.m. Amy emailed Jerry that she was cleaning light fixtures in the barn. He found his mother face down on her hands and knees with a corn rake buried in her back, checked her pulse and shouted for his father. A deputy took over CPR and an ambulance took her to hospital, where she died.

The medical examiner found six puncture wounds although the rake had four tines, plus injuries to her chin, cheekbones, knees and knuckles, and asked the state forensic pathologist to review the case. The pathologist found two different wound paths, meaning she had been impaled at least twice and possibly three times, that the wounds to her left hand were defensive, and that the rake went through her back, rupturing a breast implant and puncturing a lung and liver. The death was ruled a homicide. A search warrant produced no camera footage from the red shed and no yard video for the day.

Amy's family filed a wrongful death suit in 2020. A change.org petition, two websites and a Facebook group campaign for his release, and the hosts leave the question of his guilt open.

The case

Murder of Amy Mullis

Victims

Amy Mullis. wife, mother of three, who had worked in healthcare

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 2 September 2023.

Accused

Outcome

Other people

Amy's stepmother. told that was resolved to keep his farm and his family together
Patricia. Amy's friend, who told police Amy was scared of and had not been happy for years
Terry. Amy's friend, who warned her that would kill her
Amy's brother. told police Amy planned to divorce and asked him to store their grandmother's furniture
Kid One. Amy and thirteen-year-old son, who found her in the red shed

The timeline

  1. 1980 is born.about 0:11:28
  2. 1999 Aged nineteen, buys his first farm, which grows to three farms and part of another. (Mullis farm)about 0:13:09
  3. 2003 meets Amy at the Delaware County Fair. (Delaware County Fair)about 0:13:55
  4. 2004 and Amy marry and Amy moves onto his farm. (Mullis farm)about 0:14:37
  5. 2005 Their first child, a boy, is born.about 0:14:50
  6. 2007 Their second child, a girl, is born.about 0:14:50
  7. 2010 Their third child, a boy, is born.about 0:14:50
  8. 2013 Amy has an affair with someone at work; the couple go to counselling and reconcile.about 0:15:41
  9. June 2018 Amy begins an affair with Jerry Fraser, who oversees the farm's hog operation. (Mullis farm)about 0:19:10
  10. July 2018 sees more than a hundred texts between Amy and Jerry on a phone bill and confronts them; Jerry says they were about pigs and the texting stops. (Mullis farm)about 0:21:57
  11. July 2018 Amy quietly looks for jobs and somewhere to live, and tells a friend will not divorce because he would lose half of everything.about 0:29:29
  12. August 2018 Amy's grandmother dies and Amy asks her brother to store furniture for when she leaves .about 0:30:30

Places and phrases