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Beau Rothwell was sentenced to life in prison for the November 2019 murder of his wife Jennifer Rothwell. At the time of the murder, Jennifer was pregnant, reports said.
Earlier this year, in April, Beau was convicted of first-degree murder, tampering with evidence and abandoning a corpse.
The 31-year-old Beau had brutally assaulted his 28-year-old wife and then dumped Jennifer Rothwell's body in the woods off U.S. Highway 61.
He claimed the murder was the outcome of a violent argument he had with his wife Jennifer. It was about an extramarital affair that he was having where he refused to reveal the identity of the woman.
Rothwell said he went into a "red haze" and hit Jennifer in the head with a mallet.
Jennifer Rothwell case: Beau claims murder was not planned
At the murder trial, prosecutors depicted Beau Rothwell as a meticulous planner who plotted to kill his wife, Jennifer Rothwell. However, he claimed otherwise.
After disposing of his wife, Jennifer Rothwell's body, Beau Rothwell would report her missing. He then engaged in search party efforts and made other efforts to conceal his violence. Beau also dropped a message on Jennifer's phone after she was already dead to seem innocent and concerned about her.
However, authorities found a carpet soaked in bleach and blood at the couple's St. Louis County home that led to Beau's arrest. He was formally charged with murder two days after he made a missing persons report.
Police also found Jennifer's body outside of Troy, Missouri with a plastic bag duct-taped around her head. Reportedly, following his arrest, Beau had been cooperating with police, even leading them to her body.
While he confessed to killing his wife Jennifer Rothwell, he maintained that it was not premediated. He claimed it was rather committed during a "red haze" of anger brought on due to an argument about his mistress, Jennifer's pregnancy, and her own alleged extramarital affair.
Court rules against Beau Rothwell, sentences him to prison without possibility of parole
Although Beau continued to argue that he did not plan his wife Jennifer Rothwell's murder, the jury did not buy it. Prosecutors even maintained that Beau killed Jennifer to get out of their failed marriage, something he had been considering for months.
Jennifer Rothwell looked up, "What to do if your husband is upset you are pregnant," on her cell phone just before she was killed, evidence stated.
Speaking about the attack, Beau testified by saying:
"In the heat of everything, I hit her again. I believe I cracked her skull. She fell unconscious and fell down the stairs."
After cleaning the crime scene with bleach, Beau drove and abandoned his wife’s car at an intersection in Creve Coeur, Missouri. He bought the cleaning supplies the day before he reported his wife missing, police said.
Beau was sentenced to life in prison without parole along with an additional four years for other charges by Judge Ellen Ribaudo. Speaking to reporters after the verdict, prosecutor Wesley Bell said:
"We are hoping that the family has some kind of relief."
According to The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the sentences will run concurrently.
