Slain woman's daughter: Klein deal 'a twisted form of justice'

A Mount Pleasant man will spend 15 years in prison for the 1995 death of an Iowa City woman, but some in her family were critical of his plea deal, her daughter calling it "a twisted form of justice."

Susan Kersten's body was found Sept. 24, 1995, in her burned out car two miles south of Iowa City, near her home at the Regency Mobile Home Village. She was 38. Nearly 20 years later, Steven J. Klein, 56, was arrested and  charged with first-degree murder.

Friday morning at the Johnson County Courthouse, Klein entered an Alford plea on charges of second-degree arson, willful injury causing serious injury and suborning perjury in the death. In an Alford plea, the defendant does not admit guilt, but acknowledges that prosecutors likely have enough evidence to secure a conviction.

Sandra Rohrer, Kersten's daughter, said the Johnson County Attorney's Office did not ask for the family's opinion or blessing before going ahead with the plea deal.

"This sentencing has shaken my faith in the judicial system because to me this is a twisted form of justice," she said. "He got away with murder today because he pled guilty to willful injury."

Rohrer said she would have liked to see Klein acknowledge responsibility for Kersten's death through a manslaughter or murder charge.

"I am completely baffled by how the Johnson County Attorney's Office agreed this was a willful injury," she said.

Assistant Johnson County Attorney Rachel Zimmermann Smith said she has been in communication with Kersten's family throughout the case and neither side is happy with the plea agreement, but it would have been difficult to take the case to trial due to evidentiary problems and the fact that nearly 22 years have passed since Kersten's death.

"Given what we had to work with we came as close as I think we were going to come to getting closure for that family," she said.

Zimmermann Smith also praised Kersten's children, particularly Rohrer and her brother Jason Kersten, for continuing to push law enforcement to investigate the case over the years.

"They were staunch advocates for their mom and they were always pushing law enforcement to look more and dig more and I think that without that advocacy in the first place I don’t know if it would have gotten as far as it did," she said. "So I admire her kids for doing that."

Still, the Alford plea means Klein did not actually admit guilt to the crimes. He declined to speak at the sentencing, or even to look at Rohrer as she offered him forgiveness.

"I forgive you for hitting her, for killing her, I forgive you for dousing her with gasoline and lighting her on fire. I forgive you," Rohrer said.

Rohrer and other family members thanked law enforcement for their work in securing an arrest in the case after so many years, and the family said they were ready to move on. Still, it was clear at the sentencing that the pain of Kersten's death is still being felt.

"You are the lowest form of a human being. You have no soul. You have no idea how much pain and sadness you have cause our family and friends," Elizabeth Stutzman, one of Kersten's sisters, said to Klein in a statement read by a victim's advocate.

An autopsy of Kersten revealed that she had been killed, and authorities believe her car was set on fire intentionally. Authorities said Klein and Kersten had children together but had never been married or lived together and were estranged at the time of her killing.

Sixth Judicial District Judge Chad Kepros said the sentence would offer Klein "the maximum opportunity for rehabilitation" and would protect the community. Under the terms of the deal, Kepros could either accept the plea as agreed upon or reject it entirely.

The arson and willful injury charges are both class C felonies punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Under the plea, those sentences will run concurrently, while the suborning perjury charge, a class D felony punishable by up to five years in prison, will run consecutively, for a total of 15 years.

Under Iowa Code, suborning perjury is defined as inducing someone to make false statements under oath.

As part of the deal, Klein waived his rights to appeal his case and file for post-conviction relief. He also waived his right to a statute of limitations defense to the charges.

Kepros called Klein's actions devastating and said he hopes Klein spends his time in prison reflecting on those actions.

"It’s never too late to take some responsibility for the consequences of your actions," Kepros said to Klein. "It’s never too late to at least try to be a better person so that when you get out of prison you can hopefully lead a better life."

At the sentencing, Kersten's family also took the time to remember her positive influence on their lives. Her son, Jason Kersten, recited the lyrics of a song he wrote about losing his mother and said that she would live on in her children.

Rohrer said her mother "was a beautiful person, an amazing artist. She was highly creative and a free spirit," adding that she has "no words to express the void I have in my life because she is not here."

Reach Stephen Gruber-Miller at 319-887-5407 or sgrubermil@press-citizen.com. Follow him on Twitter: @sgrubermiller.