Second man sentenced for fatal beating in Palo Alto County, IA

EMMETSBURG, Iowa (KTIV) - A northwest Iowa man connected to a 2020 murder in Palo Alto County has been sentenced to a decade in prison.

Court documents state that 23-year-old Brice Colling, of Emmetsburg, has been sentenced to ten years in prison for the death of 27-year-old Rolling Bontrager of Washington, Iowa. Colling was originally charged with first-degree murder but it was reduced to voluntary manslaughter after he accepted a plea deal.

Back in July 2020, Bontrager’s body was recovered from Virgin Lake near Ruthen, Iowa. Documents state an autopsy revealed Bontrager had sustained multiple lacerations consistent with being beaten with a bolt cutter.

Colling was arrested over a year later in February 2022. Bontrager was last seen July 19, 2020, and witnesses placed Colling at Virgin Lake the same day. Witnesses also report Colling saying he had recently beaten somebody.

Another man, Allen Schwidder of Emmetsburg, also told authorities Colling was involved with the fatal beating. Schwidder was also charged for the death of Bontrager and has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Schwidder entered his plea in March 2021 and has been sentenced to up to 50 years in prison.