Steven Scott Wightman of Belle Plaine avoided suspicion for nearly a decade in a Mesa, Ariz., homicide case that had gone cold.
But now authorities say DNA from Wightman matches a sample from the scene of an Oct. 16, 2005, shooting death in a parking lot of an Arizona strip mall.
Scott County Sheriff Kevin Studnicka said deputies, agents from the Southwest Metro Drug Task Force, and detectives from the Mesa Police Department arrested Wightman, 46, without incident at his home Sept. 30.
He faces extradition to Arizona, where a grand jury has indicted him on charges including first-degree murder and robbery.
Eric Olson, an attorney representing Wightman, said he has not decided whether to fight extradition. Olson declined to comment further.
During the arrest, law enforcement authorities found a cache of weapons including five assault rifles, four handguns and two shotguns, Studnicka said. Investigators also found 90 grams of marijuana and "documents which will assist with the case the Mesa investigators are currently working," he said.
Mesa Police did not return a call for comment.
Wightman is accused of killing 52-year-old David Reed, whom the Arizona Republic described as a musician who once played with Johnny Cash. Reed was found shot in his truck near a local pub at which he was allegedly seen with Wightman hours before his death, police told the newspaper.
