Bio

Joseph Michael Lawrence was born in 1982. Some case summaries say he was born in Seaford, Delaware. In March 2005, he was 23 years old and living in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Case summaries state that he was removed from his birth parents because of severe abuse and spent time in foster care. He was adopted at about age 5 and later lived in several states, including Maryland, New Jersey, and Ohio. As a teenager, he reportedly returned to foster care. 

Before moving to Iowa, Lawrence lived in Farmington, New Mexico, where he worked in the oil industry. Records cited in case summaries state that he pleaded guilty in January 2003 to marijuana possession and served 30 days in jail.

In early 2003, Lawrence moved to Cedar Falls, Iowa, to be with his girlfriend, Elizabeth Hostetler, who was pregnant with their child. Hostetler later said she introduced Lawrence to Jason Gage about a week before Gage was killed.

Jason Gage was originally from Oelwein, Iowa. He had lived in Chicago and Milwaukee before moving to Waterloo. He worked as a waiter at the Brown Bottle restaurant and studied at the College of Hair Design in Waterloo. His goal was to work in a larger city salon.

Murder Story

On March 11, 2005, Jason Edwin Gage was last seen alive socializing with friends in downtown Waterloo, Iowa. Witnesses later said Gage and Joseph Michael Lawrence were together that night. They were seen at Kings & Queens, a local gay club, and later went to an after-hours gathering at The Times Bar. At some point after that, they went to Gage’s apartment in the Russell-Lamson Building.

According to later statements, Gage allowed Lawrence to go to his apartment while Lawrence waited for a ride. The apartment was only a short distance from the bar. A friend later said Lawrence called late that night or early the next morning asking for a ride from downtown and saying he did not like the “hospitality” of the place.

Phone records later became important evidence. In the early hours after the attack, Lawrence sent text messages to friends in Iowa and New Mexico. One message reportedly said, “I just killed a guy I think.” Another message asked a friend in New Mexico to call him soon. A later phone conversation suggested Lawrence described the incident as a fight that had gone too far.

Jason Gage was not seen for several days. Friends became worried when he failed to appear at work and could not be reached. On March 14, 2005, police entered his apartment and found his body in bed. He had been beaten in the head with a bottle and stabbed in the neck with a piece of broken glass. Reports state that the autopsy found he died from severe head injuries.

Police arrested Lawrence soon after Gage’s body was found. Authorities said Lawrence admitted that he had fought with Gage, hit him with a bottle, and stabbed him in the neck with a piece of glass. He was originally charged with first-degree murder, which could have resulted in life imprisonment without parole under Iowa law.

The motive remained unclear. Lawrence reportedly told his girlfriend that he attacked Gage after Gage made sexual advances toward him. However, Black Hawk County Attorney Thomas Ferguson later said prosecutors could not say for certain that Gage was killed because he was gay. He stated that the evidence left investigators with a series of facts and theories, but not a confirmed motive.

Investigators noted several details from the crime scene. Two glasses were found in the apartment, suggesting that Gage and Lawrence may have been drinking and watching television. Gage’s body reportedly had no defensive wounds on his hands or arms, which suggested he may not have had a chance to fight off the attack. Prosecutors also stated that the apartment did not show signs of a large fight or major struggle.

On December 16, 2005, Joseph Michael Lawrence entered an Alford plea to second-degree murder. This type of plea allowed him to avoid formally admitting guilt while acknowledging that prosecutors had enough evidence that a jury would likely convict him. As part of the plea agreement, he avoided a first-degree murder trial and the possibility of life without parole.

Judge Bruce Zager sentenced Lawrence to 50 years in prison, the mandatory sentence for second-degree murder under Iowa law. Lawrence was required to serve at least 70 percent of the sentence, or 35 years, before becoming eligible for parole. He also agreed to pay a $150,000 civil penalty to Jason Gage’s estate and waived his right to appeal the plea and sentence.