By DANIEL P. FINNEY, TOM WITOSKY
and TOM ALEX
Randall Moore, accused of shooting and killing his estranged wife this week, was not supposed to possess firearms, according to a protective order issued by a Polk County judge, a review of court records shows.
In October, Polk County District Judge Karen Romano barred Randall Moore from having contact with his wife and ordered him to surrender all his firearms to county law enforcement by Oct. 26. Moore signed the document, agreeing to comply with the order.
On Wednesday, Moore allegedly shot and killed his estranged wife, Tereseann Lynch Moore, 30.
It's unclear where Moore got the shotgun or how long it had been in his possession.
The Violence Against Women Act, passed by Congress in 1994, prohibits gun ownership by any "intimate partner" subject to a domestic abuse no-contact order.
However, a 2006 study of court records by Iowans for the Prevention of Gun Violence showed that only 28 percent of Iowa judges enforced the federal law.
Court orders rarely require law enforcement officers to retrieve banned firearms from alleged abusers, said Deputy Jana Rooker, spokeswoman for the Polk County sheriff's office.
When such orders are given, a sheriff's deputy goes to the residence of the person required to surrender the guns and asks for the weapons. However, if the person says he has no firearms, the deputy does not have the authority to search the residence for weapons, Rooker said.
"We have to take them at their word," she said.
If a sheriff's representative does not reach the subject of the no-contact order within four to five attempts, paperwork is returned to the Polk County Courthouse with a notation that the person could not be located, Rooker said.
Even if the alleged abuser surrenders firearms, the only type of weapon that requires a background check upon purchase is a handgun. Nothing prevents alleged abusers from borrowing weapons or buying new or used hunting rifles.
Police say Randall Moore, 38, forced Tereseann Lynch Moore into a car at a mall parking lot Wednesday and drove her to a northwest Des Moines apartment where he ultimately shot and killed her and shot and wounded a Des Moines police officer.
Moore, of Des Moines, faces charges of first-degree murder, first-degree kidnapping and attempted murder. He's being held in the Polk County Jail on $1.5 million cash bond.
Randall Moore had a long history of domestic abuse and violence, court records show. Five women, including Lynch Moore, sought and received protective orders against him.
Tereseann Lynch Moore's slaying was "very regrettable," but Randall Moore did not receive favorable treatment and his domestic abuse cases had not fallen through the cracks, Polk County Attorney John Sarcone said Thursday.
"In any situation involving domestic abuse, everyone tries to do whatever they can to help the victims and keep them safe," he said. "You do everything you can to try to prevent these things from happening. I see no evidence that law enforcement didn't do their job."
In addition, the civil order placed the responsibility on Randall Moore to surrender any firearms, Sarcone said.
"You can pick things up off the street," Sarcone said, declining to speak directly about the weapon involved in the Lynch Moore murder case. "Most people will honor a court order. Unfortunately, there are people in this world who won't."
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Fund established
The family and friends of Tereseann Lynch Moore have established a trust fund for her son, Levi. Send donations to: Levi Trust Fund, Attention: Master Sgt. Mark Louw, 132nd FW, 3100 McKinley Ave., Des Moines, IA 50321.
The money will be used to help pay for the 8-month-old boy's expenses.
Woman is killed, Des Moines officer hurt in northwest side standoff
By DANIEL P. FINNEY
dafinney@dmreg.com
Years from now, an 8-month-old boy will learn of the terrible Veterans Day that changed his life forever.
Wednesday, a rampage on Des Moines' northwest side left him without both of his parents - his mother, an Iraq war veteran, was dead, and his father was in jail on a murder charge.
Randall Todd Moore, 38, allegedly kidnapped Tereseann Lynch, 30, from a mall parking lot, drove her at gunpoint to the apartment they once shared as husband and wife and shot and killed her, police said.
Moore was in the Polk County Jail on Wednesday night on charges of first-degree murder and first-degree kidnapping.
He also faces a charge of attempted murder for allegedly shooting Des Moines Police Officer Todd Roland in the hand, nearly costing the policeman the use of his thumb.
The boy, too young to understand the chaos that enveloped his life, was at a child care center during the violent outbreak.
"He is safe," said Sheila Lynch, Tereseann Lynch's mother and the boy's grandmother. His mother "is gone, but he is safe."
The events began when a security guard called police after spotting Moore allegedly shoving Lynch into a rented car outside the Target store at Merle Hay Mall about 4 p.m.
Moore sped north on Merle Hay Road toward Ashley Square apartments.
Moore, police said, dragged his estranged wife at gunpoint into the apartment at 5517 Aurora Ave. as Des Moines police officers rushed to the scene.
A shotgun blast fired from a second-floor balcony seared the right hand of Officer Roland as he got out of his squad car.
Roland hit the ground and shouted into his radio: "I'm hit! Officer down!"
Other officers dragged Roland to safety as law officers from Urbandale, Polk County, the Iowa State Patrol and the FBI converged on the scene.
Medics rushed Roland to Iowa Methodist Medical Center for surgery on his hand, where doctors worked to save his badly injured thumb, said Sgt. Lori Lavorato, a Des Moines police spokeswoman.
Roland, a former KCCI-TV photographer, left the news station to join the Des Moines police in 2006. His father is a retired Des Moines police officer.
Two other shots echoed in the apartment as police worked to evacuate the building.
Moore's neighbor, Austin Hill, 22, said Moore had rented three vehicles in recent weeks in an effort to stalk Lynch.
Hill heard gunshots Wednesday afternoon and called Moore to see what happened.
"He said real calm, 'I shot a cop. I just blew my wife's brains out,' " Hill said.
"All he wanted to know from me was whether he should turn himself in or kill himself. I said to turn himself in and he hung up on me."
Moore allegedly told 911 operators that if police came to the door, he would kill them, Lavorato said.
He told police he was armed with a shotgun and at least 20 rounds, police said.
After more than an hour of talking with crisis negotiators, Des Moines police sent in a dozen heavily armored tactical officers with automatic weapons.
Moore apparently set the shotgun down just as officers stormed the apartment, Lavorato said. He was arrested without struggle.
Police found Lynch dead on the floor with a gunshot wound.
The attack brought a tragic close to a brief but stormy marriage between Lynch and Moore.
Lynch and Moore's son was born in March and the couple married this summer. According to court records, however, the union quickly soured.
On Oct. 13, Polk County District Judge Michael Huppert issued a temporary restraining order that barred Moore from contacting Lynch. The details of the order were not available late Wednesday.
Moore has a long history of domestic abuse and violence, according to online court records.
He was accused of domestic abuse in civil lawsuits four times by four different women since 2005. A protective order was issued against him that expired on Oct. 26.
In 2006, Moore was arrested for allegedly violating a no-contact order involving Jana Johnson.
A notice filed by Polk County Attorney John Sarcone indicates that a decision not to prosecute Moore had been reached as part of an agreement in a 2006 assault case in which Moore was sentenced to 15 days in jail.
In 2000, Moore was sued for paternity of a son and was ordered to pay child support, court records show.
Records also indicate that the child's mother, Jessica Kauffman, has taken Moore to court for failure to pay child support and to assure withholding of income for child support.
Online records disclosed that Moore was convicted of assault in 1999 and 2002, and received a 30-day suspended jail sentence and one-year probation for third-degree harassment in 2000.
It is rare for one man to have four restraining orders against him at one time, police said.
Pamela Vandel, a family law attorney in Des Moines, said that she warns her clients who obtain a restraining order that it doesn't guarantee safety for them.
"I tell them it is just a piece of paper and a sick person isn't going to pay any attention to it. They just don't care," said Vandel, who represented Jessica Kauffman in her 2000 paternity lawsuit against Moore.
Lynch grew up in Garner and graduated from high school there in 1997. Lynch was a member of the Iowa Air National Guard for more than a decade.
She served tours of duty in Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
For the Guard, Lynch worked as a weapons specialist, inspecting soldiers' guns and issuing them for missions.
As a civilian, she worked for the state as a child-support recovery agent.
She was an avid runner and competed in military 5-kilometer races, her mother, Sheila Lynch said.
"She loved her little boy more than anything," Sheila Lynch said.
Lynch is survived by her parents, Sheila and Tim Lynch, her son, brothers Richard and Michael Lynch and sister Kathleen Lynch.
Lynch's death marks the 13th homicide in Polk County this year.
Reporters Tom Witosky, Reid Forgrave, Tom Barton and Mallory George contributed to this story.
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