Creston man who killed brother in fight over daughter's parentage gets life in prison

A Creston man convicted of murdering his brother has been sentenced to life in prison.

Last seen alive on June 20, 2021, Timothy Fechter, 58, was found dead with gunshot and blunt force injuries to his head July 1 in a rural field. His brother, Dustin Seley, 43, was charged with his murder in August.

Seley acknowledged killing Fechter but argued at trial that it had been self-defense. The dispute, according to Seley, "followed his brother’s statements about being the father of (Seley's) daughter," according to court filings.

Seley initially claimed he tripped and the gun he was holding went off and struck Fechter. At trial, he changed his story, saying he had been "so full of rage" that he pulled out his gun and shot Fechter. But his attorneys also argued that his brother was the aggressor in the situation, and sought to introduce evidence of past misconduct by Fechter to bolster their argument.

Previously: Adair County man who claimed he shot brother in self-defense convicted of murder

None of these arguments persuaded the jury, which returned a guilty verdict in December on the charge of first-degree murder. The mandatory sentence for that charge in Iowa is life without parole, and on March 4, the court gave Seley a life sentence, according to court records.

William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com, 715-573-8166 or on Twitter at @DMRMorris.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Creston, Iowa, man sentenced to life for murdering brother Tim Fechter