CLAYTON, MO (KMOX) The Creve Coeur man charged in the death of his pregnant wife on November 11, 2019 was found guilty of first-degree murder by a St. Louis County jury Thursday evening. They had only been in deliberations a few hours when they returned the verdict that 29-year-old Beau Rothwell is guilty as charged.
County Prosecutor Wesley Bell says Rothwell "sank his own ship" when he testified Thursday that he hit Jennifer Rothwell in the head with a mallet, not once, but twice. "He testified that he hit her the second time because he didn't want her to get away. That right there is deliberation, that is intent right there." Had he struck her once, it may have only been assault and battery. By proving deliberation, Bell's team of prosecutors proved to the jury Rothwell committed first-degree murder. By Missouri statute, he will be sentenced to "natural life" on July 8th. Beau Rothwell will never see freedom again.
In taking the stand on his own defense, Rothwell told about the "domestic chaos" when finding out his wife was pregnant. He said he realized he would have to end an affair he had been having, and later decided to tell Jennifer about it. Rothwell said she became irate, and claimed an affair of her own. She said it probably wasn't even his baby she was carrying. The argument escalated to the fatal blow. The husband said he panicked, cleaned up the blood from the basement carpet, put the body in his truck and drove "Until I got lost." That was on Highway 61 in Troy. He told the courtroom he dumped his dead wife about 25 yards from the highway and covered her in twigs and leaves. His pretense that she was missing has been well documented.
Perhaps the most shocking aspect of the killer's testimony in Court Thursday was his admission that he is still speaking with the woman he had an affair "almost daily." She is not being named in news reports.
