A Missouri man was just found guilty of a heinous crime: killing his pregnant wife and unborn child.
That man is 31-year-old Beau Rothwell, who was found guilty of first-degree murder earlier this year. During the trial, he admitted to killing his wife, Jennifer Rothwell.
He said it wasn't planned and happened during a heated argument. His defense team hoped that he would end up with a manslaughter charge. Instead, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
“We issued this case of murder first and as was stated in sentencing today, we never made any other offers. That was not an option,” said St. Louis County prosecuting attorney Wesley Bell. "We felt that this individual needed to be held accountable for his actions and that’s what we were intent on doing.”
Rothwell said he hit his wife with a mallet during an argument that had become heated. He said he and his wife, who was six weeks pregnant, were arguing about an affair he was having.
Prosecutors revealed texts between him and the other woman. They also presented a list of pros and cons Rothwell had compiled when trying to decide if he should leave his wife.
Jennifer Rothwell seemed to know that her husband wanted to leave her. Prior to her disappearance, she googled: "what to do if your husband is upset you are pregnant?" She was killed on November 11, 2019.
The following day, Beau Rothwell called 911 to report that his wife of four years had disappeared. Her remains were discovered a week later in a remote area 45 miles from their home.
While Rothwell's team argued that the murder had been a spur-of-the-moment action, and not premeditated, prosecutors argued otherwise. They said he had carefully planned out his wife's murder, and there was ample evidence to back up the claim. Aside from Jennifer's body being badly beaten, her husband had also been seen on security camera footage buying cleaning products the day before her murder.
During sentencing, Rothwell spoke directly to the family of the deceased. "To Jennifer’s family, words cannot describe how sorry I am. This should have never happened," he said.
