(Council Bluffs) A trial date is set for the suspect in a murder at a Carter Lake hotel. Joseph Bertolino of Florida is accused of killing 63-year-old Kenneth Gauff at the Country Inn and Suites Hotel last month. Bertolino was arrested in Lincoln after he allegedly attacked a police officer at a fast-food restaurant. The 36-year-old Bertolino’s trial is expected to start in mid-July.
At approximately 9:47 p.m. on Tuesday, police officers in Lincoln, Nebraska, responded to a disturbance at a local fast-food restaurant. Upon arrival, officers encountered a male subject, later identified as Joseph Edward Bertolino, 37, of Jacksonville, Florida. Bertolino was arrested for Attempted First Degree Assault on a Police Officer and is being held without bond in Lancaster County, Nebraska.
While in custody, Bertolino made concerning statements to law enforcement referencing an event that occurred at the Country Inn and Suites Hotel in Carter Lake earlier that evening.
Carter Lake Police conducted a welfare check and located a deceased male inside a hotel room. Carter Lake Police subsequently contacted the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation for assistance. On Thursday, the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner’s Office positively identified the deceased male as 63-year-old Kenneth Bruce Gauff of Omaha, Nebraska. The manner of death has been ruled a homicide.
Joseph Edward Bertolino was charged with Murder in the First Degree. Bertolino is currently in custody in Lancaster County, Nebraska, for Attempted First Degree Assault on a Police Officer, stemming from the assault in Lincoln.
