Iowa man sentenced for killing missing girlfriend and leaving her body in a ditch

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (TCD) -- A judge sentenced a 61-year-old man to several decades in prison after he was found guilty of killing his girlfriend last year and leaving her body in a ditch.

WOWT-TV reports Ivan "Sam" Brammer was sentenced to a maximum of 50 years for second-degree murder, 10 years for abuse of a corpse, and five years for theft, though the judge said the terms would be served concurrently. A jury convicted him of the charges in November in connection with Ilene Gowan’s death.

Gowan’s daughter reported her missing to the Council Bluffs Police Department Feb. 15, 2023, and said she had not been heard from or seen since Feb. 13. Police found her body in a ditch near the road on Feb. 26. Brammer was arrested in May on theft and abuse of a corpse charges, then charged again in August with murder.

According to Brammer’s affidavit, he and Gowan had an "on-again/off-again and volatile relationship with much verbal fighting and alcohol involved." One of Gowan’s relatives said Brammer "was not a nice person and did not treat Gowan with respect." At one point, he reportedly choked Gowan during an argument.

Gowan and Brammer had been living together up until about a week before she went missing. Gowan told two people that Brammer was holding on to her safe with $1,500 in it until she paid him $300. She told Brammer she needed the safe because she had to pay for a class. He gave it back to her but took the $300 out.

The affidavit says city cameras and other video from local businesses showed Gowan alive in Brammer’s truck on Feb. 18 between 8:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. An hour later, video shows Brammer’s vehicle traveling in the area, and Gowan looks "awkwardly slumped in the passenger seat."

The autopsy showed Gowan had several cuts all over her body, including an L-shaped laceration on her head. Gowan’s body was severely decomposing at the time of the autopsy, however, so the medical examiner could not tell if the head injury gave her a concussion or made her lose consciousness. The medical examiner could not rule out asphyxia or blood loss due to decomposition as causes of death, so her cause of death was listed as unknown.

MORE:

• Iowa man sentenced for killing 60-year-old girlfriend found dead in ditch last year - WOWT
• Ivan Brammer affidavit
• Iowa man arrested several months after missing girlfriend was found dead in ditch, 5/24/2023 - TCD
• Iowa man charged with murder after his girlfriend was found dead in ditch, 8/15/2023 - TCD