Jennifer Rothwell, at left, and Beau Rothwell.Photo: Facebook; St. Louis County Police Department/AP/Shutterstock
Just a few months beforekilling his six-weeks-pregnant wifeJennifer, Beau Rothwell compiled a list of the apparent pros and cons of ending the couple’s marriage.
On the plus side of leaving the marriage, Rothwell wrote, “nicer,” “proven mother,” “better sex life,” “more respect” and “fresh start,” among other items.
On the negative side of leaving his wife, Rothwell wrote, “Jennifer and her family,” “have to move,” “half my assets/money,” “possibly get another job” and “my family disappointment,” among other items.
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Jennifer, 28, died on Nov. 11, 2019, after the couple engaged in an argument over an affair that her husband was having, Rothwell admitted on the stand.
Rothwell, 31, said he went into a “red haze” and hit Jennifer in the head with a mallet. As she stumbled towards the garage door, he said he followed her.
“In the heat of everything, I hit her again,” Rothwell testified, according to thePost-Dispatch. “I believe I cracked her skull, she fell unconscious and fell down the stairs.”
He said he did not plan to kill his wife, but afterward he dumped her naked body in the woods about an hour away from their home and then cleaned the house with bleach and discarded evidence in a dumpster near the highway.
He then reported Jennifer missing. He was arrested after police who searched the home found blood- and bleach-soaked carpeting, and he led police to her body.
Embracing the accidental death theory, Rothwell’s defense team had asked jurors to acquit him of first-degree murder, but find him guilty only of abandoning her corpse, evidence tampering and voluntary manslaughter. But the jury sided with prosecutors.
He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole when he is sentenced in July.
source: people.com
