Man Pleads Not Guilty To Murder of 80 Year Old Dubuque Woman

A man accused of killing a woman in her home has pleaded not guilty. 60 year old Mark Fishler of Dubuque entered a written plea in Iowa District Court of Dubuque County to a charge of first-degree murder. The charge relates to the death of 80 year old Berniece Williamson of Dubuque who was found dead in her residence on July 15th. A report says that Kathleen McCarthy, Williamson’s niece and Fishler’s girlfriend, asked a neighbor to check on Williamson after not hearing from her for a day. The neighbor found Williamson lying just inside her back door“ with a roll of carpet over her head. An autopsy determined Williamson’s cause of death was “multiple blunt force trauma injuries to her head” and that the manner of death was a homicide. Fishler told officers that he visited Williamson’s residence July 14th to fix a leaky faucet. Surveillance footage showed no other activity at the residence after Fishler left. Police also reported that the shoes Fishler was wearing July 14th were later located at Key City Recycling. The shoes “contained multiple small dried red droplets, consistent with blood. Fishler’s next court appearance is set for November 1st. His trial is currently scheduled to start November 9th.