Gregory Showalter Sr. was sentenced for the murder of his wife, Helen Showalter (inset courtesy Iowa Department of Public Safety; courtroom screenshot via YouTube/KTVO)
An Iowa man free on bond who skipped the reading of his guilty murder verdict in the strangling of his wife and who was later found hiding with a whiskey bottle at home was sentenced to life in prison.
Gregory Allen Showalter Sr., 63, was sentenced this week for killing his wife, Helen Showalter, 60, and dumping her body in the Des Moines River. He was also ordered to serve a 10-year sentence for willful injury causing serious injury to run consecutively after the murder sentence.
In a statement, Wapello County Attorney Reuben Neff said his heart goes out to the family of Helen Showalter.
“While no outcome can bring back their beloved Helen, we hope that the resolution of this case offers them some measure of solace,” he said. “Thanks to the exceptional work of law enforcement, justice has been served, and Gregory Allen Showalter Sr. will face the consequences of his actions.”
His defense attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Law&Crime.
He was accused of luring his wife to a job site on July 31, 2021, during their divorce, killing her and dumping her body in the river. Someone walking in the area found her body in the river near a boat ramp the next day, police said. Showalter surrendered to authorities and was charged with the killing on Aug. 3, 2021.
He insisted at trial that he hadn’t killed her, but he was found guilty on Sept. 22 on charges of first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, willful injury causing serious injury, and domestic abuse assault by strangulation or impeding blood circulation.
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The case captured media attention when the defendant — out of custody on bond since August 2021 — failed to appear for the verdict reading, cutting his GPS-equipped ankle monitor and shutting off his cellphone.
At the time, his lawyer reportedly said he called him, letting him know jurors had reached a verdict, the Ottumwa Courier reported.
“When that did not occur and substantial time had passed, I became concerned about his welfare [and] contacted the judge and law enforcement asking that a welfare check be done at Mr. Showalter’s home,” attorney Robert Breckenridge reportedly said.
Authorities found Showalter the next day at his home when law enforcement watching his house saw a person knock before entering.
“Law enforcement searched the home and found the defendant hiding behind a chair, dressed in camouflage, holding a bottle of whiskey,” prosecutors said in a statement. “Law enforcement forcibly removed the defendant from his hiding area due to his lack of cooperation.”
Law&Crime’s Marisa Sarnoff contributed to this report.
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