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3rd man sentenced in Council Bluffs homeless shelter slaying

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January 16th, 2019 by Ric Hanson

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — The third of four people charged in the slaying of a man at a Council Bluffs homeless shelter has been imprisoned. Pottawattamie County District Court records say 20-year-old James McCauley was sentenced Monday to 10 years. He’d pleaded guilty to robbery after prosecutors dropped a murder charge. McCauley, 33-year-old Brandon Hollis , 47-year-old Vance Good and 21-year-old Cody Varnes were charged after the March 21, 2018, killing of 44-year-old Lee Johnson in a bathroom at Joshua House.

Good’s been convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. Hollis was sentenced last week to 20 years on charges of robbery and willful injury. Varnes has pleaded not guilty to robbery, but a plea and sentencing hearing is set Jan. 24 for him.