Stepbrother found not guilty in Iowa woman’s 1991 death

The stepbrother of a Council Bluffs woman who was killed in 1999 has been found not guilty in her death. Matt Kennedy, 52, was charged with first-degree murder in the death of 22-year-old Kimberly M. Ratliff, who was found dead with a slit throat on Jan. 12, 1999, in Council Bluffs. Kennedy was arrested in October in Fairfield, Montana. Prosecutors argued that improved DNA testing found Kennedy’s DNA on his stepsister. Kennedy’s attorney argued during the trial that someone else’s DNA also was found on Ratliff. Pottawatomie County Attorney Matt Wilber said the state was hampered by a lack of quality police work at the time Ratliff’s death. Kennedy was found not guilty on Friday.