Conviction upheld in 2017 Davenport murder case

The Iowa Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of a Davenport man in the 2017 murder of 35-year-old Brandon Brooks.

, 45, is serving a life sentence after a Scott County jury convicted him of first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse in July 2018.

Brooks' body was discovered on May 30, 2017, when police and fire responded to a suspicious fire in the 3000 block of West Denison Avenue.

The Rock Island man had been shot in the arm and suffered blunt-force trauma before he was set on fire. Brooks’ neck also had ligature marks.

Investigators testified at trial that his blood was found in Thomas’ apartment, work truck and van.

A gas can also was found inside the van. Surveillance video showed Thomas taking a similar can from a maintenance room in an apartment building on Heatherton Drive before Brooks' body was discovered.

A pick-up truck similar to Thomas' work truck was captured on surveillance video driving away from the area of Brooks’ burning body, according to trial testimony.

Thomas argued on appeal that there was no evidence he participated in Brooks’ murder and the convictions were based solely on speculation.

The Court of Appeals disagreed and wrote in an opinion Wednesday that the evidence, while circumstantial, was sufficiently compelling to convince the jury of Thomas’ guilt.

“The case does not stand only on Brooks’ blood being found throughout Thomas’ apartment,” the Court of Appeals wrote in the written opinion.