CEDAR RAPID, Iowa (KCRG-TV9) - A newly wed’s drug dealing and bragging on social media may have played a role in his wife’s murder, according to search warrants unsealed in the case.
Kyler Junkins is charged with shooting and killing AnnaElise Edgeton at the Shamrock apartments in January during a robbery. AnnaElise had married John Edgeton in August.
Search warrants unsealed in the case show John Edgeton admitted to dealing and using drugs, something family members told police was “everyone” knew. AnnaElise’s parents told police “they feel his drug dealing may have contributed to their daughter’s death”. One family member told police John Edgeton frequently posted on social media about having drugs and money in his home. John Edgeton also told police a man had broken into his apartment six months earlier, beat him up and robbed him.
The warrant shows another witness identified Kyler Junkins as bragging about robbing John Edgeton and that he had shot a woman in the face during the robbery. Police say Junkins had several pictures of himself holding handguns on social media, too.
Three other people are charged with conspiracy in connection with the murder: 18 year-old Allen Miller of Marion and an unidentified 16 year-old woman and 17 year-old man.
In a separate federal case, Kyler Junkins pleaded guilty to selling cocaine and possessing a firearm as a drug dealer and could face up to 30 years in prison. In that case, Junkins admitted to shooting a man in the stomach in March 2017. Junkins later admitted to the shooting and showed police where he hid the rifle under a neighbor’s shed. He also admitted to having three guns at a home in Marion in February of this year, including a .22 rifle, .22 revolver and an SKS 7.62 rifle. The .22 rifle had been modified to have an illegal silencer on it.
It’s unclear if any of those guns were used in the murder of AnnaElise Edgeton a month earlier.