Farmer Allegedly Kills Wife With Corn Rake After Discovering Multiple Affairs, Police Say

An Iowa man is accused of killing his wife with a corn rake on the family’s farm after discovering she had multiple affairs, then claiming the death had been an accident, according to law enforcement.

Todd Mullis, 42, has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder after investigators say he stabbed his wife with the corn rake in November 2018, then left the body for the couple’s 13-year-old child to find.

Those who knew Amy Mullis, 39, said she had been “scared to death” of her husband in the months leading up to her death and was terrified he’d discover the affair she was having, according to The Des Moines Register.

Mullis reportedly told one friend that if she was ever found dead, “you’ll know Todd did something to me,” authorities said in a criminal complaint and affidavit.

The relationship between the pair had begun to sour years earlier. Todd Mullis would later tell investigators he discovered his wife was having an affair in 2013, but never confronted her. He grew suspicious again in the summer of 2018 and found out that his wife was having an affair with another man after reviewing the couple’s cell phone bills, WOI-DT reports.

According to law enforcement authorities, Amy Mullis began a romantic relationship with a man in May 2018 and continued the relationship until the week of her death.

That man told investigators the mom of three wanted to leave her husband but was “scared to death” to do so.

“If he catches me, he might make me disappear,” she had allegedly told him, according to the criminal complaint filed in Delaware County.

Todd and Amy Mullis, seen here in an image posted on social media, had reportedly been having problems for years before investigators say Todd stabbed his wife with a corn rake at their Iowa farm. Photo: Facebook

Amy Mullis had reportedly been working on her Earlville farm with her husband and the couple’s 13-year-old child on November 10, 2018, just several days after having surgery.

Todd told investigators his wife was having “dizzy spells” while the trio worked.

He said he asked his wife to go to a nearby shed to grab a pet carrier so they could put some kittens in the cage later. He asked her to set the cage by the shop before going inside.

When he didn’t see the pet carrier by the shed, he told investigators that he asked his 13-year-old child to go check on Amy and soon heard the child’s screams.

"Todd stated he ran the short distance to the shed and observed Amy lying in a crouched position just inside the doorway with a corn rake impaled in her back," the complaint, obtained by WOI-DT, said. "Todd stated he attempted to take Amy out of the building, but the corn rake that was lodged in her back was hitting the fertilizer crates." 

Todd later told investigators that after discovering the body, he pulled the rake out of her back and began to drive her to the hospital, before an ambulance met them along the way, People reports. She was pronounced dead after arriving at the hospital.

Although Todd had initially told investigators he didn’t know how she had gotten her injuries an autopsy would reveal that the injuries were “not consistent with falling onto the corn rake.”

Officials noted that while the corn rake reportedly only had four tines, Amy had six puncture wounds—some of which were found to be at an upward angle and others were found to be at a downward angle.

Just four days before she had died, someone using an iPad owned by Todd Mullis had also searched ominous phrases including “killing unfaithful women,” “what happened to cheating spouses in historic Aztec tribes,” and “organs in the body,” The Register reports.

Amy had reportedly called a friend screaming and crying in October to say her husband had discovered the affair.

On the day she died, she texted a friend “Still very tense around here. Just not sure of anything anymore.”

Todd is currently being held at the Delaware County jail on a $5 million cash bail. If convicted, he could face life in prison.