Iowa man found guilty in 1989 cold case murder of his girlfriend

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — A Council Bluffs man is convicted of killing his girlfriend, nearly four decades after she disppeared.

Barbara Lenz was last seen in Woodbine on Saturday, May 6, 1989.

On Tuesday, it only took a jury less than four hours to convict Robert Davis, now 62, of second-degree murder.

Davis was arrested and charged with murder last year. Online court documents say Davis assaulted and choked Lenz several times during their two-year relationship.

A criminal complaint says Lenz told other people she was in fear of Davis and trying to leave him.

This was the first arrest and now first conviction for a case that the newly formed Iowa Cold Case Unit has helped investigate. It was an initiative pushed by Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird.

“No one should get away with murder. Barbara Lenz’s family has been waiting nearly 37 years for justice,” said Attorney General Bird. “Today, after long last, they have it. Robert Davis will spend the rest of his life in prison. I am deeply grateful to Cold Case Prosecutor Scott Brown and Harrison County Attorney Sarah Delanty and her office for their hard work in securing this conviction. And thank you again to the investigators in our Iowa Cold Case Unit, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, Iowa State Patrol, the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office, and the Woodbine Police Department who worked hard and never gave up on Barbara’s case.”

Davis is scheduled to be sentenced on May 22, 2026.