Iowa Man Is Accused of Murdering His Wife (Helen Showalter, 60)

[up2trouble]

https://www.facebook.com/helen.showalter.779

The day after her family reported her missing, a stranger spotted Helen Elizabeth Showalter's body in the Des Moines River, in an incident authorities quickly labeled 'suspicious.'

On Tuesday, some days later, authorities charged her husband with first-degree murder.

Gregory Showalter, 61, turned himself in to authorities Tuesday morning, Ottumwa police said in a statement Tuesday. He is also charged with being a felon possessing a weapon, in addition to the murder charge, the police statement said.

Family members first reported Helen, 60, as missing on Saturday, July 31. According to a statement from Ottumwa police at the time, Helen was seen walking away from a vehicle near a park in rural Wapello County. She reportedly had pre-existing medical conditions, and did not have any of her medication with her, according to Ottumwa police.

Helen's remains were found in the Des Moines River on Sunday, Aug. 1, by someone walking in the area, police said, adding that the department was investigating Helen's death as 'suspicious.'

According to court records, both Greg and Helen have criminal histories. Greg's includes multiple traffic and moving violations, as well as reckless driving and leaving the scene of an accident. He was also convicted of marijuana possession and unlawfully carrying weapons, as recently as 2018. In 2001, he was convicted of failing to properly restrain his dog.

Helen had faced multiple traffic charges and moving violations over the years, as well as a charge of keeping dangerous animals, a misdemeanor, in 2000.

Neighbors of the Showalters were shocked when they learned that Helen's body had been found in a river.

'When I heard she was missing, I thought something is not right,' neighbor Heliodoro Basilio told local station KCCI. 'She's always going somewhere and coming back all the time. A real nice person.'

Helen had worked as a school crossing guard, the KCCI report said.

'I'm pretty sure people are shocked all over,' neighbor Samantha Lipp told the station. 'She was well known, especially being a crossing guard ' My kids loved her.'

[raisedbywolves]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...ife-rcna116981

Iowa man disappears the day he's found guilty of killing his wife

A judge issued an arrest warrant for Gregory Showalter Sr. of Ottumwa after he missed the reading of the jury verdict, according to the Ottumwa Courier.

Showalter, 63, had been out on bail since August 2021, when a judge allowed him to post 10% of his $250,000 bond as long as he attended court hearings and wore a GPS monitor. He had been charged with first-degree murder and other offenses in the strangulation death of his wife, 60-year-old Helen Showalter.

Jurors reached a verdict just after 1 p.m. Friday and Showalter’s lawyer said he called his client and told him to come to the Wapello County Courthouse. When Showalter didn’t arrive, his attorney contacted the judge as well as officers, who checked his home.

While police searched for Showalter, the judge ordered that the verdict be read, citing Iowa court rules in cases where a person on trial is voluntarily absent. The jury found Showalter guilty of first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, willful injury causing serious injury, and domestic abuse assault by strangulation or impeding blood circulation.

The judge also canceled Showalter’s bond.

Ottumwa Police Lt. Jason Bell said when police went to Showalter’s home, they found a woman outside who said she was his friend. She said Showalter had given her keys to his vehicle “and made a comment about not needing those keys anymore.”
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[jennafyre]

https://www.facebook.com/greg.showalter.50

Greg's facebook. There's post that shows a meme saying "My wife was so amazing, God made her my guardian angel". I just can't.

[Angiebla]

https://www.facebook.com/greg.showalter.50

Greg's facebook. There's post that shows a meme saying "My wife was so amazing, God made her my guardian angel". I just can't.

My step sister and her husband used to do that all the time. They are divorced now.

[jennafyre]

My step sister and her husband used to do that all the time. They are divorced now.

He did this after he murdered her tho? He murdered her in 2021. This post was 2022.

And he was caught...

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/st...l/70945569007/

[jennafyre]

I went looking for more details about this case and found this article. Then a deeper dive is showing lots of conflict and abuse in this family. You will find me down a rabbit hole! Be back later if there is anything interesting!


https://www.ottumwacourier.com/news/...6bdc9d3cc.html

OTTUMWA — The first-degree murder trial related to the 2021 death of Helen Showalter continued with its second day of testimony on Thursday, shifting focus from the woman's family and final days to her autopsy.

In the final witness of the day, prosecutors summoned Dr. Kelly Kruse, a forensic pathologist at the Iowa Medical Examiner's Office, to the stand. She testified that Helen Showalter died of strangulation and blunt force trauma, and that the manner of death was homicide.

The testimony was presented in the trial of Gregory Showalter Sr., of Ottumwa, who faces charges of first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, willful injury, and domestic abuse assault by impeding breathing or circulation. The most serious charge, first-degree murder, carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without parole if he is convicted.

Showalter's defense attorney, Robert Breckenridge, as previewed in Wednesday's opening statement, advanced a theory of drowning, possibly related to the presence of methamphetamine in Helen Showalter's system at the time of her autopsy.

However, Kruse stated that her experience, training, and observations led her to a different conclusion than drowning, even with the presence of water in Helen Showalter's stomach and sphenoid sinuses. Kruse opined to the jury that the water presence was instead related to water submersion, given that Helen Showalter's body was found in the Des Moines River near the Cliffland Boat Ramp. She clarified that the presence of water in the stomach and sinuses, alone, did not indicate drowning.

"I examined all available evidence," Kruse said about her decision to exclude drowning as Helen Showalter's cause of death. "To me, her injuries were significant enough to cause her death. When you have somebody in water, your primary question is, 'Were they alive or were they dead when they got into the water?'"

Kruse testified, and autopsy photographs depicted, bruising and abrasions to Helen Showalter's head, mouth, and neck. Additionally, soft and fatty tissues of the neck were also impacted, further supporting her conclusion of strangulation. Her eyelids included hemorrhaging known as petechiae, which she used as additional observations to support her theory of Helen Showalter's death, but did acknowledge strangulation isn't the only such cause of petechiae.

The condition can be caused whenever there is irregular blood flow, including events such as a heart attack. They can also be caused by the body's positioning post-mortem, but Kruse said in her opinion this wasn't the case because they appeared to her to have occurred prior to Helen Showalter's death.

During cross-examination, Breckenridge questioned Kruse's perception that neck injuries were minor and wouldn't have been sufficient to disrupt oxygen flow and lead to Helen Showalter's death.

"You're cutting off oxygen via blood supply," Kruse clarified. "The blood supplies oxygen to your brain. So all you need to do is stop that blood supply; you don't need to stop the air from getting to the lungs and all of that."

Breckenridge also questioned whether other injuries sustained could have been acquired as Helen Showalter's body floated along a low Des Moines River, but Kruse did not believe that was the case.

"Those neck injuries do not occur with someone floating in the water," Kruse said.

Breckenrige's Wednesday opening statement teased another forensic pathologist he plans to call later in the trial that will refute Kruse's determination.

Before the pathologist's testimony, the jury heard lengthy testimony from two more family members to start the day. The first was Helen Showalter's granddaughter, whom Helen Showalter raised, and the other was Jeremy Showalter, the granddaughter's father and son of Helen and Gregory Showalter.

They corroborated details regarding life within the Showalter family, and the days and months leading to her disappearance and death.

An argument that took place a couple of weeks before Helen Showalter went missing on July 31, 2021, led family members to place both the 15-year-old granddaughter and Helen Showalter in an Ottumwa hotel.

The argument over a cellphone charger between the granddaughter and Showalter became heated and physical, involving much cursing and yelling, as the testimony showed. Family members present testified that at one point, Showalter swung an open hand toward the granddaughter, making contact with her forehead.

The granddaughter testified that the swing didn't hurt, but family members stepped between them, with Showalter being restrained by his son Christian Showalter, as the family testified.

Later, on July 29, 2021, Helen Showalter sent divorce papers to Showalter while she was staying at her mother's home.

Testimony is scheduled to resume at 9 a.m. on Friday at the Wapello County Courthouse

[Angiebla]

He did this after he murdered her tho? He murdered her in 2021. This post was 2022.

And he was caught...

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/st...l/70945569007/

Oops didnt know that. That is fucked.

[Nic B]

Arguing over a cell phone charger that turned physical? People fight over the dumbest shit.

[Angiebla]

Arguing over a cell phone charger that turned physical? People fight over the dumbest shit.

I get pissed when my husband takes my charger when my phone is almost dead, but it never rises to this level.

My guess is that was the straw that broke the psycho camel's back.

[Bewitchingstorm]

Arguing over a cell phone charger that turned physical? People fight over the dumbest shit.

Right. Craziness.