Steven Sueppel's house

This is the house where Steven Sueppel murdered his wife and four children.

It is situated at 629 Barrington Road in Iowa City.

In February 2008, Sueppel was indicted on charges of stealing more than half a million dollars from his former employer, Hills Bank and Trust. Between 2000 and 2007, the banking executive secretly diverted the money into a personal account that he controlled.

When officials confronted Sueppel about discrepancies in one of his asset accounts, he reportedly broke down and confessed that he had stolen more than $200,000 to fund his cocaine habit.

Following an investigation by the FBI, he was eventually charged with embezzlement and money laundering—crimes that are punishable by up to 30 years in prison.

One month before his trial was due to start, Sueppel penned a four-page note in which he claimed that his family would be better off dead. In his twisted logic, this would "spare them" from the "pressures" caused by his legal problems.

On March 23rd, 2008, he beat his wife, Sheryl, to death with a baseball bat. He then led their four adopted children to a van in the garage, where he attempted to kill them (and himself) using carbon monoxide.

When this method failed to work, he took the children back into the house and bludgeoned them to death.

Ethan (10), Seth (9), and Mira (5) were all killed in their bedrooms. The youngest child, Eleanor (3), was murdered in the downstairs toy room.

After killing his wife and children, Sueppel drove to Lower City Park, where he attempted to drown himself in the Iowa River. However, this attempt failed, as he was unable to submerge himself in the water. In a voicemail that he left on his own house phone, he claimed that his body kept floating back up to the top.

When his second suicide attempt ended in failure, he called 911 and told them that they needed to go to 629 Barrington Road. He then hung up the phone, jumped back into his van, and drove northward towards Interstate 80.

Roughly five minutes after the 911 call ended, Sueppel deliberately crashed his vehicle into a concrete pillar on the interstate.

The impact of the crash caused the van to burst into flames. By the time emergency services managed to extinguish the fire, his body had been burned so badly that the authorities had to use dental records to identify him.

When the police arrived at Sueppel's house, they discovered the bodies of his wife and four children. On the kitchen table, they found a lengthy handwritten note in which he attempted to explain his horrific actions.

During the investigation, it was revealed that he had also left voicemails for his father, brother, and former coworkers. In these messages, he expressed regret and embarrassment about his legal woes. In one of the calls, he also stated that his family was "in heaven."

Photos

Photos of the house and other related images.

629 Barrington Road

This Google Street View image of 629 Barrington Road was taken in October 2021.

The house, which was built in 2000, has five bedrooms and is 2,495 square feet in size.

Steven and Sheryl Sueppel adopted their four children from South Korea.

Sheryl had worked as an elementary school teacher in the past. However, she left her position in 2001 to focus on raising their four children.

Up until his dismissal, Steven had worked as a vice president for Hills Bank & Trust. After he was fired for stealing, he began working for a local concrete company.

Although family members and friends were aware that Steven was distraught about his current situation, they said that there were no signs that anything unusual was afoot.

Crash site

After failing to drown himself at Lower City Park, Sueppel drove northward towards Interstate 80.

He then drove east before finally crashing his Toyota van into this highway sign support pillar near the Wapsi Avenue overpass.

Photographs of the scene show that the vehicle was completely burned out.

Coordinates: 41.667621, -91.424489

Google Maps