ST. LOUIS COUNTY POLICE
Beau Rothwell was sentenced today to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Today in St. Louis County Circuit Court, a judge handed down a maximum life sentence to Beau Rothwell, 31, who in April was found guilty of murdering his pregnant wife, Jennifer.
At trial, Rothwell never contested that he killed his wife, but argued that it hadn't been premeditated.
Testifying on his own behalf, Rothwell said in April that on the day he killed Jennifer, he confessed to her that he'd been having an affair. Jennifer then told him she was cheating on him as well and the unborn child was not his.
Rothwell claimed this put him in "red haze" of anger, in which he spontaneously struck his wife with a mallet.
However, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office pointed to messages Rothwell exchanged with his mistress as evidence of premeditation.
In one message, Rothwell wrote that he wasn't happy with his wife but also found his infidelity untenable. He had come to the conclusion that he had three options: break up with the mistress, get a divorce, or hope for "a miscarriage or something."
The prosecution argued that Rothwell's "something" meant murder.
Jennifer's mother, Robin Von Hausen, spoke at the sentencing hearing via videoconference.
"Jennifer will never know the joy of holding her child in her arms and guiding her through life," she said. "We had hoped for more than 28 years with her."
Rothwell's sentence comes without the eligibility of parole.
Rothwell indicated in court he planned to appeal the sentence.
