Convicted Davenport chiropractor dies after fall

The elderly parents of a former Davenport chiropractor convicted of second-degree murder will miss their son.

James Klindt, 62, a former Davenport chiropractor who was convicted of second-degree murder for killing his wife and disposing of her body in the Mississippi River, died Saturday. He was a “code blue,” unresponsive and not breathing, when he arrived at Genesis Medical Center, West Central Park, Davenport, according to a spokesperson for the hospital.

His father, retired chiropractor Richard Klindt of Davenport, said Sunday his son suffered “a bad fall.”

“We miss Jim,” said his father, who was stirring a pan and timing other ingredients for a meal Sunday afternoon while his wife, Geraldine, rested. “He was the one who kept this place going. He was the glue.”

Klindt had cared for his elderly parents in the big family home that once housed the Klindt chiropractic clinic.

The elder Klindt said his son fell Thursday and hurt himself on a piece of furniture. “He was as strong as a bull,” he said of his son. “He had to rupture something when fell. I think he ruptured his spleen.”

Living downstairs from the couple is a female friend of Jim Klindt whose husband is imprisoned, Richard Klindt said.

Richard Klindt said he has requested an autopsy for his son.

James Klindt lived with and cared for his aging parents in his former childhood home ever since his release from prison in 2004 for a case that made national headlines. He was convicted of killing his wife, dismembering her body with a chainsaw and dumping the pieces into the river.

Before the homicide, James Klindt and his wife, Joyce, had lived in what was known as the “castle house” on Royal Oaks Drive in Davenport.

While in prison, he tutored those who could not read at the North Central Correctional Facility in Rockwell City, Iowa. He also participated in a prison program training guide dogs for the blind.

For a short time in 2006, he ran a taco stand at 4th and Howell streets - he worked eight out of the 20 years he spent in prison as a cook.

He continued to be arrested after his release. In October of 2004, Klindt was charged with two counts of drug possession and a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia after he was stopped at 3 am. at West 4th Street and Western Avenue for a traffic violation. He was sentenced to one year probation for the drug possession. A female passenger also was charged.

In August of 2004, Klindt pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge of interfering with officers and paid a $50 fine. Police had been called to his residence in connection with a domestic dispute with his girlfriend.

In 2007, Klindt tried to help out a local Muscular Dystrophy Association campaign when he was asked to participate in the organization's “Lockup” fundraiser scheduled for Aug. 23 at what then was John O'Donnell Stadium in Davenport. Klindt would have been put in a makeshift cell and given a phone so he could call friends and family to raise $2,000 “bail money” that would go to MDA.

Klindt and an MDA administrator talked about Klindt's past, about which the administrator had been unaware, and the two then agreed it would not be in MDA's best interests for Klindt to participate in the event.

Klindt had donated to organizations for the handicapped and Special Olympics in the past and had looked forward to the event.

“I figured if you can make something good out of something that wasn't so good, that's good,” he said at the time. “I told them they should use my notoriety to get a few bucks for the kids.”