Stephen Gower (Clark County Jail).
An Indiana man alerted the police, claiming his wife had taken her own life with a gunshot, but his account quickly unraveled due to his own statements, evidence at the scene, and suspicions of an extramarital affair, authorities report.
Stephen Gower, aged 53, is charged with the murder of his spouse, Christina Gower, at their residence in Charlestown, located in southern Indiana.
The call to 911 was made by the defendant on Aug. 4, asserting that his wife had committed suicide, as outlined in a probable cause arrest affidavit. However, upon their arrival, officers from the Charlestown Police Department and Clark County Sheriff’s Office were met with statements from Gower that seemed unusual for someone claiming his wife had ended her life.
“Take me to jail” and “shoot me,” he allegedly said.
The victim was discovered by officers in the doorway of the master bedroom, lying deceased in a pool of blood, with what appeared to be a gunshot wound to the head. Detectives noticed the absence of visible burns or stippling, which typically suggest a close-range or contact gunshot wound.
Further revelations came during Stephen Gower’s police interview, where a potential motive surfaced. He confessed to discovering text messages a day prior, indicating his wife’s conversations with other men and hinting at an affair. This discovery reportedly led to a night of drinking before the fatal event, as detailed in the affidavit.
An argument on the night of the incident escalated, resulting in a broken chair and damaged light fixture. Stephen Gower admitted to restraining her by the wrist at one point but denied inflicting further harm. Additionally, he claimed to have held two firearms to his head, expressing a desire for his wife to pull the trigger, according to police reports.
The defendant also made “inconsistent statements” about his whereabouts at the time of the shooting, detectives noted. First, he claimed he was in the kitchen and later said he was in the master bedroom or bathroom, per the affidavit. When police later asked him why he told the first officers on the scene to arrest him, he stated “that he believed it would be easier to go to jail than to explain the incident to his children or his wife’s family.”
The coroner concluded via autopsy that the fatal shot came from at least three feet away, making it impossible for her to have fired the weapon, police said.
Cops arrested Gower on a murder charge and took him to the Clark County Jail.
