GLENWOOD, Iowa — A 71-year-old man who shot and killed two neighbors then set his house on fire in a small Iowa city has died of burn injuries, authorities said.
Dennis Burnell had extensive burns when he exited his home on Wednesday evening, and died Friday at the Kansas University Medical Center Burn Unit, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation said in a news release.
Following a dispute, Burnell shot 38-year-old Brandon Oman and his wife, 35-year-old Stevie Oman, outside his home in Glenwood, investigators said. The Omans lived across the street from Burnell, according to the Mills County Assessor’s online property records. The couple has a daughter, according to their obituaries.
Witnesses told police that there was an explosion in Burnell’s house before the fire, and the officers who responded to reports of the shooting found the home engulfed in flames.
Law enforcement had been called to Burnell’s house for disputes in the past, said Glenwood Police Chief Eric Johansen in the hours after the shooting.
Online court documents show Burnell was found guilty last August of third-degree harassment of one of his other neighbors and fined more than $100.