712 Digital Group - top

Teen pleads guilty in fire that charred Iowa covered bridge

News

February 6th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

WINTERSET, Iowa (AP) — A second person has pleaded guilty for a fire that destroyed a Madison County historic covered bridge featured on the cover of the novel “The Bridges of Madison County.” Cedar Rapids television station KCRG reports that 18-year-old Joel Davis pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree arson.

Davis told authorities that he and two others set fire to the Cedar Bridge in April last year. Rebuilding the bridge will cost more than $500,000. Davis is scheduled to be sentenced April 16. Nineteen-year-old Alivia Bergmann also pleaded guilty to second-degree arson in December. She’s set to be sentenced in May.

The bridge, located near Winterset, was also featured in the 1995 movie adaptation of “The Bridges of Madison County.”