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Associated Press - July 6, 2009 4:23 PM ET
PARKERSBURG, Iowa (AP) - The man accused of killing an Iowa high school football coach has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.
Coach Ed Thomas was fatally shot on June 24 in a weight room in front of about 20 students at Aplington-Parkersburg High School in northeast Iowa.
Twenty-4-year-old Mark Becker, a former player, pleaded not guilty in a written plea on Thursday.
Online court records show that Becker demanded a speedy trial, which means he will have to stand trial within 90 days. No trial date was immediately set.
Becker remains in the Cerro Gordo County jail on $1 million cash bond.
Thomas coached for 34 years in the community about 80 miles northeast of Des Moines and had guided several players to the NFL.
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