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In this Sept. 7, 2017 photo provided by the Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, the golfer Celia Barquin Arozamena poses for a photo. The former ISU golfer was found dead on Monday, September 17, 2018 on a golf course in Ames. Collin Daniel Richards, was arrested and charged with first degree murder upon his death. (Luke Lu / Iowa State University via AP)
AMES, Iowa – They were both 22 years old and residing in the same university city of Iowa, but their lives could not have been much different before crossing each other in the most violent way.
Celia Barquin Arozamena was a leading Spanish golfer who was finishing her studies at Iowa State University. Collin Daniel Richards was a former small town detainee from Iowa with a history of violence.
The champion of the 12 big conferences, Barquin, dreamed to do the professional tour and spend hours training at Coldwater Golf Links in Ames. Unemployed and homeless, Richards lived in a tent in a camp near the course and spoke of his desire to "rape and kill a woman," police said.
Richards was accused of stabbing Barquin to death during a random attack while she was playing alone in broad daylight on Monday morning. Barquin's body was found in a pond on the course near the ninth hole after other golfers noticed his abandoned bag and called the police. Richards was arrested a few hours later with injuries to his face and hand after Barquin apparently tried to push him away, the investigators said.
While Barquin's colleagues began to mourn the loss of a teammate and a talented classmate, Richards was sentenced to a $ 5 million jail sentence at the county jail and to life imprisonment. That was, said Iowa state football coach Matt Campbell, a "cowardly act of violence".
The university had planned to pay tribute to Barquin during his football match Saturday to be the female athlete of the year, a news that made Barquin cry, according to sports director Jamie Pollard. Instead, football players will wear stickers with their initials to mourn the loss.
"We are all devastated and heartbroken," said Pollard, who suppressed tears during a press conference.
The golf course issued a statement calling Barquin an incredible young woman with a contagious smile who "improved her surroundings".
Barquin was a leading golfer in Spain as a teenager and came to Iowa State to pursue his career, attracted by his facilities, his coaches and his picturesque campus. She became one of the best in the history of the school and completed her engineering degree after exhausting her sports eligibility earlier this year. She recently won an amateur tournament in Europe and participated in the US Women's Championship.
Richards had lived in small towns in western Iowa, residing with his mother, father, and grandparents at various times. He was found in Ames in January 2017 when he was placed in a halfway house after violating his probation, according to court records. At that time, he was convicted of burglary, theft, criminal mischief and harassment. A judge revoked his probation and he was sent to prison in November 2017.
Richards left a state prison in southeastern Iowa in June after serving his sentence. Soon, he was back in Ames, arrested weeks later after being found fainting in an alcohol store and admitting that he had been drinking heavily after taking antidepressants.
Police Cmdr. Geoff Huff said that homicides are rare in the city and that it is "very disturbing that something like this happens in broad daylight".
Police said the officers had recovered a knife that Richards had given to acquaintances after the murder, as well as bloody clothes from his belongings.
The officers were summoned around 10h20 Monday to investigate a possible missing woman. According to the complaint filed Tuesday against Richards, they found Barquin's body in the pond with several injuries to the chest and head and neck.
A police dog followed the scent of Barquin up to a homeless camp along a cove near the golf course where Richards was living in a tent, the complaint said. The police found Richards with several scratches on his face, which corresponds to fighting and a deep laceration of his left hand that he tried to hide, he added.
"What did he do to her?" an acquaintance of Richards would have asked the agents who searched the area.
The man told investigators that Richards had said in recent days that he had "a desire to rape and kill a woman," the complaint said. A second acquaintance told the police that Richards had arrived home last Monday, appearing "disheveled and covered with blood, sand and water" before bathing and leaving.
Paul Rounds, a public defender representing Richards, declined to comment.
The court records show that since 2014, Richards had been accused of mistreating a former girlfriend, stole a van after destroying his own vehicle, used a baseball bat to break a car window and burglarized a stationery. service. In one case, the Iowa State Patrol seized a long knife during a roadside check. In another case, he threatened to return to a convenience store to shoot clerks after he found him stealing.
Former Barquin team announced Tuesday that it was pulling out of East & West Match Play in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to mourn their defeat. The women's golf coach, Christie Martens, said that Barquin was an "outstanding representative of our school".
Professional golfer Sergio Garcia, one of Barquin's favorite players, tweeted that he was heartbroken by the news, saying that he had had the pleasure of meeting Barquin and qualifying her as "special person".
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Foley reported from Iowa City, Iowa.
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