Celia Barquin Arozamena: golfer murdered on Coldwater Links near Iowa State campus as police charge Collin Daniel Richards
Police say star student golfer Celia Barquin was left dead in pond on golf course near university, as investigators claim Collin Richards told acquaintance he had ‘urge to rape and kill a woman’
A star collegiate golfer from Spain was attacked and killed by a homeless stranger while she was playing a round alone near her campus in Iowa, police said on Tuesday.
Celia Barquin Arozamena, who was working toward joining the pro tour while finishing her degree at Iowa State University in the US, was stabbed by the assailant on Monday morning and left dead in a pond on the golf course, police said. Her body was found after fellow players saw her abandoned golf bag.
Collin Daniel Richards, a 22-year-old with a history of violence, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Investigators said Richards had told an acquaintance he had “an urge to rape and kill a woman” and that he was living in a homeless encampment near the golf course in Ames, about 30 miles (50 kilometres) north of Des Moines.
Police said they recovered a knife and bloody clothing linked to Richards, who completed a prison sentence in June and has prior convictions for burglary and harassment.
Barquin was remembered as one of Iowa State’s most accomplished golfers and a bright engineering student. This year, she won the Big 12 championship and an amateur tournament in Europe and competed in the US Women’s Open Championship.