(Spencer)– A man convicted in a 1997 gang killing in northwest Iowa wants a new trial.
Juan Humberto Castillo-Alvarez was convicted by a judge in January in the slaying of 15-year-old Gregory “Sky” Erickson.
Castillo-Alvarez was found guilty of second-degree murder, second-degree kidnapping and conspiracy. He was sentenced in April to 85 years in prison.
The appeal was filed by the State Appellate Defender’s office.
Erickson was a police informant when he was kidnapped. He was taken to an abandoned farmhouse near Petersburg, Minnesota where he was tortured and shot to death.
Nine others were convicted in his death. Castillo-Alvarez was the last to stand trial. He was extradited to Iowa in 2006 after being returned to the U.S from Mexico.
(From the Associated Press.).
