Four charged after burning body found in Iowa

Four people have been charged in the strangulation death of a man whose body was found burning last week in a rural central Iowa ditch.

Steven Vogel, 31, of Grinnell, was arrested Tuesday in the death of 44-year-old Michael Williams of Grinnell, the Iowa Department of Public Safety said. He's charged with first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse.

Police acknowledged that the killing of Williams, who is Black, had led to fears that he may have been targeted because of his race. Grinnell College even canceled classes Monday based on that fear. But police said Williams and Vogel, who is white, were well acquainted.

“The investigation has revealed no evidence to show the acts against Michael Williams were motivated by his race nor that his death was the result of a hate crime,” police said in a release.