The Iowa Court of Appeals has affirmed a Carroll County District Court’s decision to deny a post-conviction relief request from a Lake City man convicted of the 2014 murders of two Glidden residents. Sixty-two-year-old Thomas Guy Henderson is currently serving two life sentences after a Carroll County jury found him guilty in 2015 of brutally killing 48-year-old Tammie Devore and her adult son, 30-year-old Karl Devore. In his post-conviction relief request, Henderson claimed ineffective assistance of counsel because his attorney declined to call two alibi witnesses, but the district court denied his request after finding neither witness “was able to provide an alibi for the period in question.” The appellate court heard from both of the witnesses in question during the post-conviction relief hearings and determined Henderson’s attorney pursued a valid defense strategy. In the ruling filed last week, the Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed the Carroll County District Court’s ruling to deny Henderson’s post-conviction relief request. Henderson’s two life sentences remain active at the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison.
