More than four decades later, the murder of 29-year-old Timothy Charles Earney remains unsolved in Albia.
Earney was found dead inside his home at 322 North Eighth Street on February 2, 1984. He had been shot twice in the head.
According to investigators, Earney had driven his live-in girlfriend, Dorothy Lee Kempf, to work at Kendall School that morning. He was expected to pick her up at 1 p.m., but when he failed to arrive, Kempf walked home and discovered Earney lying on the living room floor.
Investigators soon focused their attention on Kempf’s estranged husband, 48-year-old Harold G. Kempf of Ottumwa.
Court documents cited by the Des Moines Register stated that Kempf had allegedly made numerous threats against Earney. Investigators were told he had threatened to kill Earney and had been inside Earney’s home while armed with a handgun. He also allegedly told his estranged wife that he could “get rid of Earney any time he wanted to.”
Those allegations led investigators to obtain multiple search warrants for Kempf’s Ottumwa property.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Department, along with the Wapello County Sheriff’s Department, Ottumwa and Albia police, and agents with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, participated in the searches. Investigators were looking for firearms, ammunition, clothing, rubber gloves and other potential evidence.
Items reportedly seized during the searches included ammunition, clothing, papers, a firearm, cleaning supplies, toilet paper and trash bags.
Investigators were also examining physical evidence found near Earney’s body, including what was believed to be part of a rubber glove. Authorities were attempting to determine whether a firearm and ammunition recovered during the investigation could be connected to the fatal shooting.
Despite the investigation and searches, no one was ever convicted in connection with Earney’s death.
At the time of his murder, Earney worked for the Albia Community School District as a school bus driver and helped deliver hot lunches to area elementary schools. School officials said he completed his morning bus route on the day he was killed but failed to appear for his scheduled lunch delivery.
Kempf also worked for the school district as a custodian. Following Earney’s death, officials said they did not know where she had gone.
In 2009, Earney’s case was among roughly 150 unsolved cases identified by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation’s newly established Cold Case Unit. The unit was created to revisit older cases using advances in forensic and DNA technology.
Although federal funding for the dedicated Cold Case Unit ended in 2011 and the unit was eventually discontinued, the Iowa DCI has continued to work with local law enforcement agencies on cold cases when new information or advances in forensic testing provide opportunities to move an investigation forward.
Earney was born in Albia on December 21, 1954, to Charles Evan and Carolyn Kruse Earney. He was remembered as a member of the community and employee of the Albia school district.
His funeral was held at Trinity United Methodist Church in Albia, with burial following at Oakview Cemetery.
Today, Earney’s name remains connected to one of Monroe County’s longstanding unsolved homicide cases.
Anyone with information that could help investigators determine who killed Timothy Earney is encouraged to contact the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation at 515-725-6010 or dciinfo@dps.state.ia.us. Information may also be provided to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office at 641-932-7815.
Sources: Iowa Cold Cases
