Lansing man convicted of murder seeks new trial

A Lansing man convicted of second-degree murder by an Allamakee County jury in August of this year is seeking a new trial, according to documents filed Monday, October 2 in Allamakee County District Court. Following investigation into the May 9, 2022 death of 83-year-old Daniel Lundy of Lansing, Andrew Karvel, now age 66, of Lansing was arrested by the Lansing/New Albin Police Department in August of 2022 and originally charged with first-degree murder, a Class A felony, for what was alleged at the time to be the strangulation death of Lundy in the Lansing residence the two men shared.

In the trial that took place a year after his arrest, that jury found Karvel guilty of second-degree murder. His sentencing date had been scheduled for October 23.

Just over a week ago, however, Karvel’s defense team from the State of Iowa Public Defender’s office in Dubuque filed a motion “that the Court not enter judgment, and instead enter a judgment of acquittal,” according to court documents. As of the Tuesday, October 10 printing of this edition of The Standard, a hearing date on that motion has not been scheduled.

In the filed documents, Karvel’s defense counsel listed several reasons for filing the motion, including that “the Court erred in allowing the State to introduce inflammatory evidence regarding the Defendant’s prior conviction for assault”, an Alford plea by Karvel in 2019. Also listed was the argument that the State failed to turn over “some exculpatory evidence”, namely a pacemaker report from the State Medical Examiner’s office and traffic camera footage that may have both factored into the timeline of events in Lundy’s death. In the court documents the defense counsel also argues that the “jury’s verdict was contrary to the evidence in the case” and that the “State failed to prove Daniel Lundy died from strangulation”.