ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — A St. Louis County man was found guilty of first-degree murder Thursday in the 2019 death of his pregnant wife.
Beau Rothwell was accused of killing his wife Jennifer in 2019. The jury deliberated for a few hours before handing down the guilty verdict at around 6:30 p.m.
He was also found guilty of tampering with physical evidence and abandonment of a corpse.
The crux of this case rested on the question: was this murder pre-meditated or not? That determined if Beau was convicted of manslaughter or first-degree murder.
The state argued the thought of killing Jennifer Rothwell as a way out of his marriage grew for months. Beau's defense team said it was a crime of passion that happened during an argument over an affair.
In the end, the jury sided with the prosecution.
On Monday, Rothwell waived his right to be sentenced by a jury, so a judge will determine his sentence.
Rothwell admitted on the stand Thursday that he killed Jennifer by hitting her with a mallet twice.
He then reported her missing to police, only to later confess that he hid her body 45 minutes away from their Creve Coeur home.
Prosecutors said Beau planned out the murder, then hid her body, evidence and ultimately the truth.
They introduced as evidence conversations with his mistress and personal notes to himself. Rothwell's defense teams described their client as a non-abusive, "nerdy guy" who was having an affair.
They said after killing Jennifer, he panicked and tried to clean up the evidence but later came to his senses.
They said none of this was planned.
During closing arguments, the only time Beau really reacted to anything was when he nodded in agreement when his lawyer described him as a guy who was frustrated with his marriage and then had an affair.
From the victim's side of the courtroom, there were several teary eyes from family and friends as attorneys described the gruesome killing.
