Stephen Gower (Clark County Jail).
An Indiana man called cops to say his wife had shot herself to death, but his story fell apart almost immediately thanks to his own statements, evidence at the scene and his belief that she was having an affair, authorities say.
Stephen Gower, 53, stands accused of murder in the death of his wife, Christina Gower, at their home in Charlestown, which is in the southern part of the Hoosier State.
The defendant called 911 on Aug. 4, claiming that his wife had shot herself, according to a probable cause arrest affidavit. But when officers from the Charlestown Police Department and Clark County Sheriff”s Office arrived on the scene, Gower made rather odd statements for someone claiming his wife died by suicide.
“Take me to jail” and “shoot me,” he allegedly said.
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Cops found the victim in the doorway to the master bedroom, dead in a pool of blood with an apparent gunshot wound to the head. But missing were any visible burns or stippling, which would be indicative of a close or contact shot to the head, detectives noted.
Then came Stephen Gower’s interview with the police, which provided them with a possible motive. He said the day before the shooting, he found text messages showing “she was talking to other men and indicated she was having an affair.” That led to a night of drinking in the hours leading up to the fatal shooting, the affidavit said.
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A verbal argument escalated to breaking a chair and a light fixture. Stephen Gower claimed he held her down by the wrist at one point, but denied hurting her further. He also said he held two firearms to his head and “hoped his wife would pull the trigger,” cops wrote.
The defendant also made “inconsistent statements” about his whereabouts at the time of the shooting, detectives noted. First, he claimed he was in the kitchen and later said he was in the master bedroom or bathroom, per the affidavit. When police later asked him why he told the first officers on the scene to arrest him, he stated “that he believed it would be easier to go to jail than to explain the incident to his children or his wife’s family.”
The coroner concluded via autopsy that the fatal shot came from at least three feet away, making it impossible for her to have fired the weapon, police said.
Cops arrested Gower on a murder charge and took him to the Clark County Jail.
