Inmate to use self-defense assertion in prison murder trial

Published September 26, 2017

Court records say a man accused of killing another inmate at the Iowa State Penitentiary plans to assert self-defense during his murder trial.

The records say Lha Southideth-Whiten has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the slaying of Michael Whitworth during an Oct. 20 altercation in the Fort Madison prison's cafeteria. The Hawk Eye newspaper in Burlington reports that Southideth-Whiten's trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 29.

A criminal complaint says Southideth-Whiten punched Whitworth, knocking him to the cafeteria floor, and continued to hit his face and head even though Whitworth was bleeding heavily and appeared to be unconscious.

Authorities say the 46-year-old Whitworth died 10 days later at a hospital. An autopsy ruled his death a homicide caused by blunt force trauma.

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