ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — A St. Louis County grand jury has indicted Beau Rothwell in the death of his pregnant wife.
On Monday, he was charged with first-degree murder, tampering with physical evidence and abandonment of a corpse in Jennifer Rothwell’s death. He is being held on a $500,000 cash-only bond.
In November of last year, Jennifer was reported missing. Days later, Beau was arrested and charged in her death and eventually gave investigators information leading to her body.
Prior to her death, Jennifer looked up “what to do if your husband is upset you are pregnant" on her cellphone.
Here’s a look at the timeline of the case:
Nov. 11
Beau was seen on camera buying cleaning supplies, including bleach, carpet cleaner and gloves.
Nov. 12
Beau reported Jennifer missing around 9:45 p.m. He told police he last saw her leaving their home in the 12600 block of Northwinds Drive early that morning.
Later in the morning, while out on a routine patrol, Creve Coeur police found her car near Olive Boulevard and Fee Fee Road, about a mile away from their home.
Nov. 13
St. Louis County police obtained a search warrant for the couple’s home and found the carpet soaked with bleach and large areas of blood in the carpeting and underlying pad.
Beau was arrested that night.
Nov. 14
Police reclassified Jennifer’s disappearance as a homicide investigation and shortly after that, Beau was charged with tampering with physical evidence.
Police continued to search for Jennifer.
Nov. 15
Beau made his first court appearance. His bond went from $100,000 to $500,000 and he was ordered to surrender his passport and have no contact with Jennifer’s family.
Shortly after his court appearance, the St. Louis County Prosecutor’s Office charged him with second-degree murder.
Detectives used Jennifer’s parent’s DNA to see if it matched with the blood found in the house and it was a match, according to court documents.
Beau was being held without bond.
Nov. 18
Beau and his attorney meet with detectives, and Beau told them where they can find Jennifer's body.
Police find her body in Lincoln County, about 45 miles away from her home, near the Cuivre River State Park.
