Mark Stobbe has been found not guilty of second degree murder by a jury in Winnipeg. The crown claimed Stobbe killed his wife Beverly Rowbotham in a fit of rage in their backyard with an axe. It was all circumstantial evidence, however all of this evidence pointed to Stobbe. Blood and bone fragments from Rowbotham were found in the couples backyard. Stobbe claims he fell asleep watching a baseball game while his wife was hacked to death just a few meters away. He didn’t hear screams, the killer didn’t enter the house, ya right!
Juries have to start using common sense and logic. In light of the Casey Anthony case juries have to realize concrete evidence and witnesses are not always part of the prosecution’s case. Strong circumstantial evidence should be enough to convict.
CBC
Here are some of the key events leading up to, and including, Mark Stobbe’s second-degree murder trial in connection with the death of his wife, Beverly Rowbotham.
Beverly Rowbotham was found dead in her car at a gas station near Selkirk, Man., in October 2000. (CBC)
June 2000
Mark Stobbe, Beverly Rowbotham, and the couple’s two sons move from Regina to a home on River Road in St. Andrews, Man.
Stobbe had worked as a high-ranking adviser to former Saskatchewan premier Roy Romanow before moving to Manitoba to take up a job with the newly elected NDP government of Gary Doer.
Oct. 24, 2000
Rowbotham goes grocery shopping with one of their sons at the Safeway in Selkirk, Man., that afternoon.
According to Stobbe, Rowbotham decides late that night to go back to Safeway. Stobbe testified that he fell asleep while Rowbotham went out, then woke up a few hours later to find she was still gone.
Oct. 25, 2000
2:37 a.m.: Stobbe calls RCMP to report Rowbotham missing.
4:12 a.m.: Rowbotham’s body is found in the family’s Crown Victoria near a service station in Selkirk. She had 16 chop wounds to the head, with some of the blows going through her skull, according to autopsy results presented at trial.
Mark Stobbe has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in Rowbotham’s death. (CBC)
10:10 a.m.: An RCMP officer begins taking Stobbe’s statement. An audio recording of the 70-minute conversation was played in court.
May 2008
Stobbe is arrested and charged with second-degree murder in connection with Rowbotham’s death.
June 2008
Stobbe is released on bail.
Jan. 16, 2012
Stobbe’s trial begins in Winnipeg. Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Chris Martin oversees the jury trial.
Jurors will go on to hear more than 100 hours of testimony from 80 witnesses, including Stobbe himself.
March 8, 2012
Stobbe begins testifying in his own defence. He undergoes six days of testimony — five of which involve cross-examination — before his testimony ends on March 15.
March 21, 2012
Crown and defence lawyers finish making their closing arguments.
March 27, 2012
Martin gives jurors final instructions before they begin deliberating.
March 29, 2012
Jury acquits Stobbe of second degree murder.
Jurors in the Winnipeg murder trial of Mark Stobbe, who is accused of killing his wife in 2000, heard audio footage of Stobbe’s statement to RCMP after she was found dead.
In the audio recording from Oct. 25, 2000, about five hours after Beverly Rowbotham was found beaten to death inside her car in Selkirk, Man., Stobbe told RCMP Sgt. Sheldon Peddle that he and Rowbotham had a “pretty good” marriage.
“Was there any tension at all between you and Bev for any reason at all?” Peddle, who was a constable at the time, asked Stobbe as they sat in an RCMP cruiser outside the River Road home where Stobbe and Rowbotham lived with their two young sons.
“Not particularly,” replied Stobbe. “Like the fact she got grumpy around menstruation period and you learn to expect it.”
“Were you happy here?” Peddle asked.
“Oh yeah, I love it here. Or I did. Still will,” Stobbe answered.
Seemed ‘out of sorts’
Peddle testified on Thursday that Stobbe seemed “out of sorts” and “lost” as he gave the statement, but he did not seem overly emotional.
The Crown’s theory is that Stobbe hit his wife 16 times with a hatchet behind the couple’s sprawling rural property in St. Andrews, Man., dragged her to a sedan in the garage, drove her body 15 kilometres away, then bicycled back home and reported her missing hours later.
Stobbe, who was arrested eight years after his wife’s death, has pleaded not guilty to the murder charge. His trial began Jan. 16 in Winnipeg and is expected to continue until the end of March.
According to the RCMP recording, Stobbe told police his wife suddenly decided to go grocery shopping late at night because he was watching a baseball game on television.
Stobbe told Peddle he fell asleep with one of his two sons and woke up around 2:30 a.m. to discover his wife had not returned.
Stobbe with defense team
Mark Stobbe, a former Manitoba and Saskatchewan political adviser accused of killing his wife in 2000, is out of the witness box after six days of testimony that included five days of cross-examination.
Stobbe ended his testimony by calmly and repeatedly rejecting accusations from the Crown that he beat Beverly Rowbotham to death, drove her body to a remote location and bicycled back home to report her missing.
Stobbe has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in connection with Rowbotham’s death. His trial began Jan. 16 in Winnipeg, and Stobbe had been testifying since March 8.
With Stobbe’s testimony finished, the trial will resume Monday morning. Defence lawyer Tim Killeen has not told the jury if he will call more witnesses.
A former senior adviser to former Saskatchewan premier Roy Romanow, Stobbe moved with Rowbotham and their children to the Winnipeg area in 2000 for a job with the government of then-premier Gary Doer.
Stobbe proclaims innocence
Rowbotham’s body was found in the family car on Oct. 25, 2000.
On Thursday, Stobbe proclaimed his innocence during the fifth and final day of cross-examination.
“I did not murder my wife,” Stobbe said calmly under questioning by Crown attorney Wendy Dawson.
“I did not put her in the Crown Victoria. I did not drive the Crown Victoria out of the garage with her in it.”
The Crown has accused Stobbe of attacking Rowbotham with a hatchet, then driving 15 kilometres away to dump her body in the Selkirk, Man., area before bicycling back to their house in St. Andrews, Man.
Stobbe has said he fell asleep while his wife went out for a late-night grocery run and woke up around 2:30 a.m. to find her still gone.
Her body was found several hours later in the family car in a parking lot in Selkirk.
Blood stains in the garage
Dawson said Stobbe moved the family’s other car to cover up blood stains in the garage while the family went to Saskatchewan for his wife’s memorial service shortly after her murder.
“I had no idea there were blood stains in the garage,” Stobbe said. “I knew neither that the garage nor the backyard were part of a crime scene.”
Dawson presented Stobbe with a bath towel spotted with his blood recovered from the family home. Stobbe said he cut himself shaving in the shower.
“These stains in this towel are more than just a shaving cut,” Dawson said. “This is from a cut you sustained while you were chopping at your wife’s head with a hatchet.”
“I never chopped at my wife’s head with a hatchet,” Stobbe said.
Stobbe said he was happy when police came to take a DNA sample from him since he assumed it would exonerate him.
“If male blood had been found, it was likely from who(ever) killed her,” he said.
“I knew with absolute certainty that that was not me.”
Although Stobbe said he went to great lengths to secure the house before they left the province, Dawson said he didn’t bother to change the locks on the house or cancel his wife’s credit cards.
That’s because Stobbe knew his wife hadn’t been robbed, she said.
Stobbe said he didn’t think to change the locks and he didn’t cancel the credit cards in case they were used by a suspect.
The Crown’s case against Stobbe is circumstantial since there were no witnesses and the murder weapon was never found.
The Crown has DNA evidence that shows blood, hair and small bone fragments from Rowbotham were found in the couple’s backyard, and alleges that Stobbe hosed down the area to try to wash away evidence.
Stobbe has testified he didn’t hear anything from the backyard or garage the night his wife was killed.
I call BS on all his testimony! 16 cuts on her head – that’s passion, not a random killing! How can you not hear all that going on in your own garage and yard? Know where the murder weapon ended up? In the Red River! Its an easy matter to throw anything in that river from River Road, and its an easy bike ride from Selkirk. Karma’s a bitch, and some day he’ll get what he deserves!
I think he’s his guilty. My big question is,if her blood was found in the garage and her body stuffed into the car that was parked in the garage at the time she died, someone or somebody big as Mark him self could of stuffed her body in the car with ease.Also where does Bev keep her car keys usually? Most likely in her purse or on a key hanger somewhere in the house? I know I wouldn’t leave my car key that usually have your house keys attached on the same keychain in the car. Im sure the keys were not left alone in the car the evening she was murdered! According to Stobbe, Rowbotham decides late that night to go back to Safeway. Stobbe testified that he fell asleep while Rowbotham went out, then woke up a few hours later to find she was still gone! If she did go to safeway like Mark had mention why is there no Video of her there later on at night and only video of her there in the afternoon? According to the RCMP recording, Stobbe told police his wife suddenly decided to go grocery shopping late at night because he was watching a baseball game on television! I find it funny how in 1 statement he said he fell asleep while she was out shopping and according to rcmp recorded statement that he was watching the baseball game! There is a lie right there covering his murder.He sure don’t seem like the lazy guy he calls himself as he takes care of how he looks (cleaned shaven and clean clothes and nice designer clothes) ,he dress’s pretty damn good for a lazy guy and someone his weight can bike 14 kilometers easly.That’s another lie calling himself lazy. Was Mark Stobbe offered a polygraph test? That right there would prove his innocence! I know there not 100% accurate but why do we still use them till this day and at least that shows that he did take it and could prove that he is guilty on innocent! They need to take soil samples and resift through the yard,yard for yard of soil.They need to resift through all the evidence and statements. I sure hope he gets busted.I pray they find evidence that they need to bring Mark Stobbe to justice.
I don’t know if he killed his wife or not, but I think I’d rather see the jury err on the side of innocence rather than guilt in a circumstantial case.
Many times I have gone to Safeway late at night because I’m bored. She was in a new town with not many friends and her children were in bed and hubbie watching sports on tv. I don’t find it unusual at all that she planned to go back to Safeway. As for why there is no video of her return to Safeway…well she obviously didn’t make it out of her back yard!
There are so many possibilities other than her husband that people don’t seem to want to consider in this case.
Maybe some lunatic was in the backyard and she startled him? He beats her, takes her keys out of her purse (which she would have been carrying because she was going to Safeway) and drives her to a gas station 15 km away.
Did the police look into any known offenders who would have been familiar with that gas station? Why was that particular place chosen to leave the car? Maybe the guy drove himself home?
Maybe she had a pre-arranged meeting with someone who turned out to be a murderer? Around that time, chat rooms were very popular with lonely housewives and unhappy husbands looking for a hook-up. Did the police even look at the home computer to see if she was corresponding with anyone? As unappetizing as this is to consider, stranger things have happened. She was an attractive woman married to a slovenly man who was not around much.
I find it hard to believe that a man with no violent history would suddenly chop his wife up and go to such lengths to cover the act, let alone a man that size ride a bicycle 15-20 km. I just don’t think he would have physically been capable of that bike ride…and where is this bike? A normal bike would not carry the weight of him, he would have needed re-enforced spokes and probably special tires and frame. Did he own such a bike?
The thing is that there are just too many other possibilities and no direct evidence linking the husband to the murder. If I were in that situation I would hope the jury of my peers would make the same decision his jury did.
It is a tragedy all around. This has no doubt torn the extended family apart and will leave doubt in many peoples minds forever. His children lost one parent to a violent, tragic death and the only parent they have left will live under a cloud of suspicion for the rest of his life. Very sad indeed.
Current technology does not allow the detection of metal in the river? no pun intended
Too bad cant buy a tag for those
This is rural Manitoba. We have a lunatic that happened upon poor Beverly and robbed her and hacked her to death for her purse. And this lunatic didn’t attempt to go in the house to find more booty, or more victims? Where did this lunatic go? Why hasn’t he struck again? If this hypocrite, cold blooded killer and very cool liar Stobbe didn’t do it, I’ll walk on a wire over Niagara Falls.
You obviously have some deep feelings about this murder and I’m sorry if the victim was your friend or family. I don’t know the accused or the victim. I only know what I’ve read.
Did the jury actually find him not guilty or did they acquit? I think there is a difference – not guilty means they believe he didn’t do it, acquitted means the crown didn’t prove that he did it. (That’s my understanding anyways, I could be wrong.)
It might seem far-fetched, but there have been many stranger-murders where the victim is just simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. As difficult as it is to believe that some random stranger murdered Ms. Rowbothom, it’s equally difficult to believe that an otherwise well-adjusted, non-violent man suddenly decides to chop up his wife. Obviously the jury did not believe it, but you do.
I am curious to know what was the motive in your opinion? Did he have a history of domestic violence? What about him riding that bike? Do you think a man his size was physically capable of a 15 km bike ride after a vicious murder?
I don’t think rural Manitoba is immune from violent crime or domestic violence for that matter. I’m just curious why you are so adamant that he is guilty when a jury found otherwise.
Not the first psychopath that walked
On 2012-11-16 8:14 AM, “Markosun’s Blog” wrote:
** west coast sailor commented: “You obviously have some deep feelings about this murder and I’m sorry if the victim was your friend or family. I don’t know the accused or the victim. I only know what I’ve read. Did the jury actually find him not guilty or did they acquit? I think the”
I don’t see the need for name-calling but if that’s your response to an opposing view, then it says a lot more about you than me.
After reading your intro of yourself on your homepage where you say, “I am objective and quite skeptical.” I was hoping to have a reasonable discussion about this murder and how it has polarized people.
You don’t appear to be either objective or skeptical. In fact your comments seem extremely subjective (particularly now that you say you didn’t know either the victim or the ‘perp’) and completely devoted to the idea that the jury – who actually heard the evidence – got it wrong but you know the real truth.
I think you’ve been watching far too many CSI type tv shows. I am not sure how you conclude that “14 hatchet blows screams out that the perp that did this had a score to settle with the victim” and so the ‘perp’ must be Ms. Robotham’s husband.
Many, many violent and psychotic offenders do serious damage to victims they have never set eyes on before they kill them. I suppose you think Nina Courtepatte wasn’t repeatedly stabbed by her ‘perps’ because they weren’t somehow related to her? Or what about Tori Stafford? Both died from repeated blows delivered by ‘perps’ who had no familial or personal relationship to their victims. How about Lin Jun, do you think Lucca Magnotta is innocent because they weren’t married or that the horrific crime was committed during a moment of anger and passion rather than the cold-blooded, calculated, brutal act of a madman? Your theory is ridiculous to the extreme.
It’s actually not uncommon for a murderer to kill in a frenzy, thus inflicting far more damage than is necessary to end the victim’s life. The only thing that 14 (or 16 as has been reported in the news) blows indicates is that the killer intended to kill the victim.
As for your theory that there are no lunatics in rural Manitoba, perhaps you’d like to explain what happened to Tim McLean?
It may be hard to imagine that those type of violent, crazy people walk among us, but the reality is they do – even in rural Manitoba.
What do you to say about David Roberts opinion piece in the Winnipeg Free Press that states, “He mentioned that around the time of Bev’s killing, a woman driving on a rural road near Selkirk had been attacked by two hammer-wielding women who tried to rob her as they pretended their car had broken down”?
Also, what about the male DNA that was not Stobbe’s that was found on Ms. Robotham’s hand bag?
These things are what is called reasonable doubt because there is no solid proof that Stobbe killed his wife. Maybe he got away with murder but maybe he is innocent. Should an innocent man be sent to jail because people like you cannot and will not accept the fact that there are other possibilities? Should he go to jail because police get tunnel vision and dismiss all other possible motives and suspects? It wouldn’t be the first time in Canadian history where the police have made that mistake. In this case we may never know because Stobbe isn’t ever going to confess and it’s too late now for police to check out alternate motives and theories.
I guess you’ve made up your mind and are not capable of having a reasonable conversation with anyone who doesn’t whole-heartedly embrace your opinions. You may want to do a bit more naval-gazing and reconsider your self-described ‘objectivity’.
Don’t make it personal you cretin. I didn’t know the hatchet murderer Stobbe. What about all the blood on the towel in the house. Stobbe cut himself when he was butchering Bev. Why would a maniac slam his victim 14 times with a hatchet. This was a domestic argument that exploded and Stobbe killed his wife. 14 hatchet blows screams out that the perp that did this had a score to settle with the victim. All logic and common sense points this way. I’m sure you gullible bleeding hearts thing Casey Anthony and O.J. are innocent as well, just because the jury said so. Get real for Christ sake.
By the way I don’t know anything about the Casey Anthony or OJ trial because I’m not a fan of Nancy Grace type television and I think we have enough crazy killers in this country without having to follow what the Americans are up to.
As for the blood on the towel, have you never bled in your own house or car? Obviously the crown couldn’t prove that blood was there from the murder. If you read the voir-doire evidence, the cops that spent the better part of the evening after the murder in the Stobbe house say he had no marks on him and the coroner found that Ms. Robotham fought her attacker (and would have presumably left marks). If that’s the case why didn’t he have cuts or scratches on him?
For the sake of justice and fairness to human kind. I desperately hope you never make it onto a jury. The wrong person will be free, and the murdered will be forever forgotten! Idiot!