Murder trial will not be held in Decorah

Decorah will not be the site of the first degree murder trial of 22-year-old Collin Richards, the man accused of killing former Iowa State golf star Celia Barquin Arozamena.

That's because Richards entered a guilty plea to the first degree murder charge during what had been expected to be a routine court appearance in Ames on Friday afternoon.

Story County Judge Bethany Currie has approved a defense motion to move the trial out of Ames because of pretrial publicity and had set the trial for the Winneshiek County Courthouse starting September 10th.

But Richards' plea on Friday afternoon means there will not be a trial on the charge, so the Decorah location has been cancelled.