Slain family members were active in Iowa City parish

Published: 2008-03-27

IOWA CITY, Iowa (CNS) -- Steven Sueppel, his wife and four children were active members of St. Mary Parish in Iowa City and a "warm, loving, faith-filled family," said Sister Agnes Giblin, pastoral associate at the parish. Sheryl Sueppel and children Ethan, 10, Seth, 7, Mira, 5, and Eleanor, 3, were found dead at their Iowa City home the morning of March 24. Police found the bodies of Sheryl and the four children after they responded to a 6:31 a.m. 911 call March 24 made from a cell phone and asking police to go to the family's home. A body, which was later identified as Steven, was found in a Toyota Sienna minivan that burned the same morning in a fiery crash on Interstate 80 just east of Iowa City, city police reported. Autopsies revealed that Sheryl and the four children died from "multiple blunt-force trauma injuries to each of their upper torsos and heads," a news release on the city's Web site states. In response to the tragedy, Sister Giblin, a Sister of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and Father Ken Kuntz, pastor at St. Mary, prayed at the family's house and visited Steven's family March 24 at the home of his parents, Bill and Pat Sueppel. Steven, a former vice president of Hills Bank & Trust, reportedly was facing charges of embezzling more than $500,000 from the bank.

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