LOGAN, Iowa (AP) — A murder trial has begun for an 18-year-old charged in the death of a 5-year-old boy outside a rural home where they were foster children.
Lawyers for Cody Metzker-Madsen plan to use an insanity defense in the 2013 death of Dominic Elkins.
Authorities say Elkins was killed while the boys were playing outdoors at their home near Logan, in western Iowa. He died as a result of blunt-force head injuries and drowning.
Elkins' body was found at the bottom of a ravine.
Metzker-Madsen has pleaded not guilty and has waived his right to a jury trial. A judge will make the final ruling in the trial that began Tuesday and is expected to last two weeks.
Legal experts say that Metzker-Madsen will not be released from jail if found not guilty. He will likely face years in state care.
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