AIMES, IA – Police have accused a 22-year-old homeless man of murdering an Iowa State University student whose body was found in a golf course pond.
On Monday morning police were called to Coldwater Golf Links after some golfers discovered an abandoned golf bag.
A short time later, police would find the body of a female in a pond at the golf course. She was identified as 22-year-old Celia Barquin Arozamena, a student at Iowa State University and Iowa State Female Athlete of the year.
Barquin Arozamena, who was due to graduate with a degree in civil engineering, had suffered stab wounds to her upper torso, head, and neck.
While on the scene, investigators were approached by a man walking on a nearby trail who asked, “what did he do to her?”
When asked to clarify, the man told police that he had been staying with a man in a nearby homeless camp who had been expressing a desire to “rape and kill a woman.”
Police went to the homeless camp and found the man, identified as 22-year-old Collin Daniel Richards, and noticed he had several fresh scratches on his face and that he was trying to conceal a gash on one of his hands.
Police asked him where he’d been that day and Richards stated he’d been hanging out at the home of a friend. When that friend was interviewed he told police that Richards arrived at his home “disheveled and covered in blood, sand, and water.”
Celia Barquin Arozamena
He said that Richards took a shower and left with some clothes in a backpack. When police searched the backpack, they found it contained clothing covered in blood.
Two other people handed over two pairs of blood-stained shorts and a knife. They said they were giving Richards a ride out of town when he gave them the items, but had asked them to stop at the homeless camp so he could grab his tent.
Luckily, that was also about the same time police were at the location looking for his sorry ass.
Richards was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. He was placed in jail on a $5 million, cash-only bond. He had just been released from prison in June after serving a sentence for multiple probation violations.
“She was so happy. She just had this great light about her,” said Barquin’s coach Christie Martens who said her teammates are struggling with the news. “She was really close with them…. She’s really special to me. And I really, I love her a lot.”
Iowa State had planned to celebrate Barquin and her athletic achievements at a football game this Saturday, but that ceremony will now be a memorial.
This is the second murder of an Iowa State University student we’ve reported on recently. The first being the death of Mollie Tibbets, the 20-year-old ISU student stabbed to death in July by an illegal immigrant.
This article was written by Morbid for The Dreamin Demon - the Internet's self-appointed buzzkill.
