The family of a Fort Dodge woman who was killed in a vicious attack in January 2020 were relieved when a Cerro Gordo County jury found her killer guilty of first-degree murder on Thursday.

Angela McLeod, 45, was beaten to death with a golf club in a Fort Dodge apartment on Jan. 20, 2020. Mark David Russell, 31, was immediately arrested and charged with her murder.

After more than three years of delays, competency evaluations, one mistrial and a change of venue, Russell was finally brought to trial in Cerro Gordo County this week.

“It is a huge relief to know that the three-year-long manipulation that he had done to the system and to us has finally come to an end,” Amber McLeod, the victim’s daughter-in-law, told The Messenger on behalf of the McLeod family. “He got what he deserved. He knew what he did was wrong.”

During the trial, Russell claimed his assault on Angela McLeod was self-defense and that she had attacked him with a golf club first. Despite the defendant’s claims, it took the Cerro Gordo County jury just over two hours to return with a guilty verdict.

“I just hope that in the future, other families won’t have to endure this lengthy process,” Amber McLeod said. “Justice finally being served three years later was a long time to wait.”

A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for March 20. First-degree murder is a Class A felony, which carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.