Warren John "Jack" Nutter Jr. (christened Warren John Nutter III; June 30, 1937 – December 8, 2021) was an American convicted murderer who was the longest-serving inmate in Iowa history.
Originally sentenced to hang for killing a police officer in 1956 at age 18, Nutter's sentence was commuted in 1957 to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole. Nutter went on to serve 65 years, 9 months, and 28 days within the Iowa penal system, ultimately dying in custody at the Iowa State Penitentiary in 2021 at the age of 84.
Early life Nutter was born on June 30, 1937, in Freeport, Illinois, to Warren John Nutter Sr. (1915–2004) and his wife Edith Nutter (née Aumock; 1916–1994), who had married in 1936. He was an only child. His parents endured "two or three" periods of separation before ultimately divorcing in 1949, when he was 11 years old. His father subsequently relocated to California, while his mother remained in Freeport and remarried Roman Schoop (1916–1959), becoming Edith Schoop.
Nutter began having run-ins with the law at a young age. By age 12, he had started smoking and was getting into trouble for staying out late and breaking street lamps. He later explained that he funded his activities with a crowd of local youths by committing a series of petty break-ins. Court records show his early offenses escalated to include stealing from churches, cashing bad checks, setting fire to a landlord's coal bin, stealing mail, and car theft.
At age 14, Nutter was sent to the Illinois State Training School for Boys in St. Charles, Illinois, for forging checks. After serving seven months, he was arrested for violating his parole when he stole a car and ran away with a girl. This violation resulted in his commitment to a reformatory in Sheridan, Illinois. By early 1956, the 18-year-old was living with his mother and stepfather in Freeport while on parole from the facility.
Murder of Officer Harold Pearce On January 4, 1956, around 1:00 p.m., Nutter—18 years old at the time—obtained a 1954 model car from Myers Ford Sales Co. in Freeport, Illinois, under the pretense of a test drive. When he failed to return the vehicle, Police Magistrate William Kintzel issued a state warrant charging Nutter with driving a car without the owner's consent, which remained his sole charge in Freeport. Nutter later stated his motive was to escape his stepfather and drive to California to locate his biological father, whom he had not seen since September 1951.
According to a reconstruction of the events, Nutter drove to Rockford, Illinois, after taking the car. While there, he asked his parole officer for money but was turned down. He then picked up Robert Wright (16) of Rockford and David Jenkins (17) of Forreston, Illinois. Nutter's accounts of his relationship with the boys varied; he was quoted in one interview describing them as "two fellows I knew," though he later claimed he had not known them prior to the trip. Wright, who was reportedly on probation in Winnebago County, sold the car's spare tire and wheel to secure gas money for their projected trip to California, which they planned to finance further by committing crimes along the way. The teenagers later told investigators they departed Rockford at 2:00 p.m. that afternoon. Later that evening, the group returned to Freeport to pick up two girls they knew: Joan Saur (16) of Rockford and Betty Zwiefel (16) of Freeport. Police later reported that the group had also attempted to recruit a third girl, identified by officers as Nutter's girlfriend, to join them on the trip to California, but she refused. Reports noted that all five teenagers came from broken homes, had difficult relationships with their parents, and had prior police records.
Without informing the girls that their destination was California, Nutter deceived them by telling them to grab a pair of skates and come along for an ice skating trip. The group departed Freeport between 9:00 and 10:00 p.m. They initially stopped at a farm home near Freeport with the intention of robbing it, but they were scared off when the female occupant appeared at the door. Proceeding west along U.S. Route 20 into Iowa, the teenagers burglarized a local gas station in Earlville, Iowa, at about midnight to steal cash, gasoline, candy, a flashlight, and a box of shotgun shells. Nutter maintained that Wright and Jenkins committed the burglary while he stayed outside. However, Jenkins and Wright contradicted this claim, stating that Nutter accompanied them in the break-in while the girls remained in the car.
At approximately 2:00 a.m. on January 5, Officer Harold Pearce (52), who had been with the department for about two years, and Patrolman Henry Funk (59) were traveling east on U.S. Route 20 through Independence, Iowa, when they observed the group's westbound car weaving and traveling at approximately 75 mph (121 km/h). Suspecting a drunk driver, the officers turned their patrol car to give chase, pursuing the vehicle for . The chase reached speeds of up to 100 mph (161 km/h) and ended near the west edge of Jesup, Iowa, when Nutter, who was driving the fleeing vehicle, failed to make a turn into the city and drove straight onto a gravel road. The teenagers got out without any resistance and were searched. Pearce returned the three boys to Independence in the squad car, and Funk took the girls in the youths' car, transporting them to the sheriff's office located inside the Buchanan County Courthouse in Independence for questioning.
The girls remained in the front office with Pearce while the boys were held in a rear office with Funk. Nutter requested permission to use the restroom, which Funk granted. Once inside, Nutter escaped by squeezing through a narrow, partly open washroom window, dropping approximately 7.5 feet (2.3 m) to the ground outside the courthouse. He then retrieved a 12-gauge shotgun and ammunition from under the back seat of the stolen vehicle. The weapon had been taken from Wright's father and was originally intended for use in the aborted farmhouse robbery. Nutter later stated he retrieved it for the purpose of freeing his companions.
At around 2:30 a.m., after loading the shotgun in the courthouse hallway, Nutter reentered the sheriff's office where the girls were, cocking the weapon as he entered. He placed the shotgun on a counter facing Pearce, who was seated at a desk with his back toward Nutter. Nutter demanded, "Take out your gun with your left hand and lay it on the table." According to witness testimony, Pearce obeyed the command. The officer arose and approached the counter with his service revolver drawn in his left hand to comply. As he moved forward, Nutter, who later claimed he was scared by the approaching officer, pulled the trigger. The blast struck Pearce in the left side of his chest, killing him instantly. Pearce was survived by his wife, Pearl, and their two daughters, Ivadele Cutshall and Barbara McInteer.
Following the shooting, the girls fled the scene while Nutter attempted to reload the shotgun, but the weapon jammed. Hearing the gunshot, Funk opened the door of the rear office just a crack to investigate. Nutter pointed the shotgun at Funk and ordered him to throw down his weapon. Nutter also shouted to the other two boys to "grab his gun and come with me," prompting them to lunge at Funk. Funk stepped back into the rear room, slammed the door shut on Nutter, and turned on the advancing teenagers with his own gun drawn. Funk warned them, "stay back or you'll die," effectively subduing them. The boys complied, and Funk handcuffed them together before telephoning for help.
Meanwhile, Nutter went to the body of Pearce and retrieved the fallen revolver from under the officer's arm. He threw the jammed shotgun down a courthouse stairwell and fled the building. The two girls hid for a time at a nearby gas station washroom before walking to a city park, where they were recaptured by authorities a short time later. Nutter's escape prompted a massive four-hour manhunt involving about 40 to 50 officers from Buchanan County, the Iowa Highway Patrol, and neighboring jurisdictions. The foot-by-foot search included roadblocks on every highway in the area, and authorities were even considering deploying an airplane to assist.
At around 6:00 a.m., Independence Police Officer Ray Moline stopped a Gateway trucking firm driver, Leo Bowers, who reported seeing a man attempting to hitch a ride south of the city. Three cars of officers converged on the location. At approximately 6:45 a.m., Nutter was apprehended without resistance while hitchhiking along Iowa Highway 150, south of Independence. Winneshiek County Deputy Sheriff Robert Hitesman stepped from the lead car and took Nutter into custody. At the time of his arrest, Pearce's revolver was found inside Nutter's right pocket.
Legal proceedings
Plea and sentencing On January 6, 1956, Nutter waived his preliminary hearing when he was arraigned on a charge of first-degree murder and held without bond. That same day, he signed a statement confessing to the killing of Pearce. Describing the split-second reaction, Nutter stated, "No, I wasn't mad at him. I didn't even know him. He drew his gun and I fired. I don't know what I was thinking about." He was formally charged on January 9 and initially pleaded not guilty on January 19. However, on February 3, Nutter and his defense attorney withdrew the not guilty plea and entered a plea of guilty to the charge of murder.
On February 7, during a hearing in open court, Nutter confirmed to Judge Shannon Charlton that he understood the consequences of his guilty plea, waived his right to a jury trial, and offered no defense. The court continued the hearing through February 8 to examine witnesses and determine the degree of the offense. If a lesser degree of murder was decided, the penalty could have been set as low as 10 years in prison. The State presented eleven witnesses, while the defense presented three, including Nutter himself, and entered a lengthy handwritten confession into evidence.
Taking the stand on February 7, Nutter described his actions and mindset during the fatal encounter. When questioned about his intention for bringing the shotgun into the office, Nutter replied, "To get the girls and boys out." He stated that he loaded the weapon in the courthouse hallway before the confrontation. Nutter claimed he ordered the officer to "Take out your gun with your left hand and lay it on the table," but the officer instead drew his weapon with his right hand and advanced toward him. "Before I could speak again, the patrolman was in front of me pointing his gun," Nutter testified. When asked by his defense attorney if he had any intention of shooting prior to that moment, Nutter answered, "No." He ultimately concluded his narrative by admitting, "I got scared and pulled the trigger." However, eyewitness testimony from Saur and Zwiefel contradicted his account, stating that Pearce had complied with the demand to remove his revolver with his left hand and was simply moving toward the counter when Nutter fired.
Following the proceedings, Judge Charlton ruled the crime to be murder in the first degree. Charlton had the decision to choose between life imprisonment or death. On February 10, 1956, he gave the youth the maximum penalty, sentencing Nutter to be hanged, with his execution date scheduled for February 18, 1957.
Sentencing of accomplices Wright and Jenkins were transferred to a jail in Manchester, Iowa, to face trial for burglary and larceny of a gas station. On January 19, 1956, they escaped by breaking through the roof of the jail building and fleeing in a stolen county car. They were recaptured the following day at Wright's home in Rockford. On January 21, the two youths pleaded guilty and were each sentenced to 11 years in the men's reformatory in Anamosa, Iowa, for burglary, jailbreaking, and stealing a county car.