Man arrested for killing at downtown motel

Thursday, March 11, 1999 | 9:45 a.m.

Terry Jess Dennis, 52, was booked into the Washoe County Jail on an open murder charge Tuesday.

Investigators were called to the Horseshoe Motel at about 4:15 p.m. after the man telephoned the Reno police department dispatcher and said he had strangled a woman over the weekend.

Police found a dead body in a room at the motel on the corner of East 5th and Lake streets.

Authorities said Dennis indicated he met the woman recently and that she had been staying at the motel with him.

The victim was identified as Iiona Straumanis, 51, an Eastern bloc immigrant who has lived in the Reno area since 1984. Police said they have been unable to locate any relatives or friends who know anything about her.

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