Waterloo Business Owner Convicted Of Murder

A Waterloo business owner will spend the rest of his life behind bars after being convicted of first-degree murder on Wednesday (Sept. 23, 2015).

Anthony Tronca, 44, was found guilty in the shooting death of Ronald Randall, 44, last year. A Black Hawk County jury returned the verdict after an hour of deliberations, ending a trial that lasted nearly three weeks.

During the trial, Black Hawk County Attorney Linda Fangman said jealousy was the motive behind the slaying. Prosecutors presented a case that Tronca -- who is married and has children -- killed Randall because he was upset that Randall slept with his girlfriend.

Tronca allegedly shot Randall four times in the paint room of his Waterloo business -- AJT Auto Repair -- on Sept. 1, 2014, and then moved his body to a rural area south of the city.

According to previous news stories, Waterloo police received a missing persons report on Randall on Sept. 9, 2014. During the investigation, authorities determined that his disappearance was not voluntary. Police found Randall's body three days later in a wooded area of Black Hawk County along U.S. Highway 218, south of Washburn.

Tronca will be sentenced for first-degree murder at a later date. Under Iowa law, he faces a mandatory term of life in prison without the possibility of parole.