-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Murder defendant Eric Hall listens to testimony by witnesses during his first-degree murder trial at the Webster County Courthouse on Tuesday.

A Fort Dodge Correctional Facility corrections officer described finding the body of an inmate under a pile of laundry in his cell as testimony in the first-degree murder trial of FDCF inmate Eric Todd Hall began Tuesday at the Webster County Courthouse.

Hall, 45, is being tried for killing fellow inmate Thomas Daleske last year. Daleske was found unresponsive in his cell in the Grove Unit of the prison around 5:15 p.m. on June 14, 2020.

Hall was identified as a suspect shortly after the incident and was charged with first-degree murder.

The State Medical Examiner ruled Daleske’s death a homicide by strangulation with blunt force injuries to the head, neck and chest. Witnesses have testified that there was an elastic band from a pair of underwear and wires from a set of headphones wrapped tightly around Daleske’s neck when he was found.

Just two weeks prior to the start of the trial, Hall rejected a plea deal offered by the state to plead guilty to second-degree murder, which would have relieved him of the mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possiblity of parole if he is convicted of first-degree murder.

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Ken Thompson, a shift captain at the Fort Dodge Correctional Facility, explains the layout of the FDCF campus to the jury at the first-degree murder trial of FDCF inmate Eric Hall on Tuesday.

A jury of 15 Webster County residents — nine women and six men — were selected to sit on the jury for the trial on Monday. The jury includes 12 jurors and three alternates. On Tuesday, they heard the start of testimony in the case, as well as opening statements from the attorneys.

“This is not the case of an individual who snapped in the heat of the moment and decided to impulsively take the life of another human being,” Webster County Attorney Darren Driscoll told the jury in his opening statement. “The evidence will show that this was a meticulously planned attack, that the defendant stalked … Mr. Daleske for 25 minutes before even entering Cell 83.”

Driscoll described Hall as acting as a “self-appointed vigilante” and “his actions cannot be tolerated by society.”

Defense attorney Paul Rounds did not dispute that his client caused the death of the victim during his opening statement, but rather that it was the result of lasting trauma caused by abuse Hall had suffered as a child.

Rounds told the jury that Hall was once a “little boy” with a “bright future ahead of him” that was stolen by an abusive predator.

-Messenger photo by Kelby Wingert
Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Special Agent Scot Ely testifies about the DCI's investigation into the murder of Fort Dodge Correctional Facilty inmate Thomas Daleske during the first day of testimony in the trial of accused murderer Eric Hall on Tuesday.

Hall learned that Daleske — a convicted pedophile — was “about to be released” and he “couldn’t face that reality,” Rounds said.

“We won’t ask you to excuse what he did; we will ask you to return a verdict of manslaughter,” Rounds said.

The charge of first-degree murder also includes several “lesser included charges” of second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter — public offense, involuntary manslaughter, assault causing bodily injury and assault. The jury is able to convict the defendant of any one of the “degrees” of the crime, or to acquit the defendant altogether.

After the opening statements, the state started with its witness testimonies.

First on the witness stand was Brandon Lee, a corrections officer at the Fort Dodge Correctional Facility.

Lee testified that he was doing his rounds through the Grove Unit when he noticed that toilet paper was hanging over the window of the door to Cell 83. He had noticed it on his previous round, approximately 30 minutes before, but was concerned that it was still up when he made his rounds again.

Inmates will often briefly cover the window on their cell doors for more privacy while using the toilet located inside the cell, he said.

He said he opened the door to peek in and make sure everything was OK when he saw a hand sticking out from a pile of blankets and laundry laying on the floor of the cell. He then made an emergency medical call over the staff radios and went back into the cell to start CPR.

Lee testified that the elastic underwear band and headphone wires around Daleske’s neck were wrapped so tightly he couldn’t remove them on his own — staff had to retrieve an emergency “911” knife to cut the cords off.

There was a small pool of blood underneath Daleske’s head, the corrections officer said.

Lee testified that the incident was a traumatic experience.

“I’ve never seen anything like that before,” he said.

Denise Schultz, a registered nurse for the Iowa Department of Corrections who was working at the Correctional Facility the night of Daleske’s death, testified that prison staff continued CPR for “eight or nine minutes” before medics from the Fort Dodge Fire Department arrived and that there were no signs of life, so the Fire Department did not continue life-saving measures.

“How would you describe the scene?” Driscoll asked her.

“Horrific,” was Schultz’s answer.

Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation Special Agent Scot Ely testified Tuesday about the DCI’s investigation into the homicide. He testified that DCI agents reviewed surveillance footage of anyone coming or going from Daleske’s cell around the time of his death and that Hall was identified because in addition to wearing a COVID-19 mask, Hall had his prison ID card clipped to his mask.

On cross-examination, Rounds asked Ely if he was aware that a “shank” was found in Daleske’s pants pocket when the body was searched. Ely said a shank was found on Daleske’s person, and then clarified after a redirected question from First Assistant Webster County Attorney Ryan Baldridge that there was no indication that the shank had been used at all.

A shank is a “homemade prison knife,” Rounds said.

Former FDCF Warden Robert Johnson testified about meeting with Hall the day after the murder when Hall was being interviewed by DCI agents. Hall had requested to talk to the warden as a condition of continuing his interview with the agents.

Johnson testified that Hall talked to him about wanting to move to a maximum or “super max” security prison and that Hall told him he hoped the warden would “put in a good word” for Hall at his next prison facility.

On cross examination, Rounds asked Johnson if at the time of the crime, the Departmentn of Corrections was making efforts to lower the prison population because of COVID-19 concerns. Johnson answered that it was.

Baldridge asked on redirect about the process of determining which offenders would be released early because of COVID-19 and Johnson replied that inmates are released early by court recommendations and prison staff doesn’t have any direct influence over the decisions.

Due to challenges scheduling witnesses to testify, the jury was given today off and testimony in the trial will continue on Thursday morning.

At the time of his death, Daleske, 59, had been serving a 45-year maximum sentence for multiple charges related to sexual abuse and lascivious acts with a child from Warren County. His sentence began Oct. 31, 2000.

Hall has been serving a sentence for third-degree burglary since April 2019 after a rash of break-ins at businesses throughout the state. His tentative release date was scheduled for November 2023.