Sioux City Journal
Sunday, August 21, 2016
By NICK HYTREK
SIOUX CITY | The murder trial for a man charged in a fatal Sioux City stabbing has been continued after he received new legal counsel.
District Judge Steven Andreasen set the trial for Isack Abdinur to a time to be determined.
Abdinur, charged in Woodbury County District Court with first-degree murder, had been scheduled to stand trial Tuesday for the June 23, 2015, death of Cornelia Stead.
Assistant Woodbury County Attorney James Loomis had requested the recent continuance after Andreasen on Aug. 2 appointed the State Public Defender Special Defense Unit to represent Abdinur, who had refused to leave his jail cell and meet with his previous attorneys. Loomis said in his motion for a continuance that he did not believe that Abdinur's new counsel would be able to prepare to go to trial in such a short amount of time. Loomis also said he had been unable to conduct the deposition of a witness because of the change in attorneys.
Abdinur, 36, is accused of stabbing Stead, 43, at her apartment at 521 W. 16th St. after the two got into an argument. According to court documents, Stead locked herself in a bedroom during the argument, but Abdinur allegedly forced open the door and punched her in the face before getting a knife from the kitchen and stabbing her multiple times.
Police have said that Abdinur and Stead were romantic partners.
Abdibur's trial was previously continued while he awaited a mental health evaluation.
If found guilty as charged, Abdinur, a native of Somalia whom police characterized as a transient, would face a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole.