I am familiar with Bev Rowbotham’s case. Bev was seen on a camera shopping in Safeway the morning she was killed. Because their fridge and cupboards were well-stocked, the Crown didn’t believe Stobbe who told police Rowbotham left the house for a late night “big shop” at Safeway prior to being murdered in her backyard.
Selkirk is a city in the western Canadian province of Manitoba, located about 22 km northeast of the provincial capital Winnipeg on the Red River. Bev, her husband Mark Stobbe, and their two sons had recently moved to Selkirk, Manitoba from Saskatchewn. Mark was transferred there by his employer, the Province of Manitoba. I believe Bev’s sister also lived in Selkirk then. Bev and her family lived in a large house on a large piece of property just outside the City of Selkirk and there was no security system protecting the property and its occupants. The previous owner of their house was a doctor who performed abortions.
Their house was being renovated when Bev was murdered. Because the house didn’t have a security system and no close neighbors, their house imo was a perfect place to break into and rob. Mark worked long hours, the boys attended school during the day, and at times the house was empty while Bev ran errands in her car. Because the garage was attached to the house, it was a perfect hiding place. I don’t know if their house was locked at all times.
The mental hospital in Selkirk was renamed and is now known as the Selkirk Mental Health Centre. It is a 252-bed facility that provides specialized inpatient mental health and acquired brain injury treatment and rehabilitation services to residents of Manitoba whose challenging needs cannot be met elsewhere in the provincial health care system.
Mark claimed he was with his sons preparing them for bed when Bev told him she was leaving to go shopping in her car which was parked in the garage. I don’t remember if the boys heard their mother say where she was going. I don’t remember if Bev usually carried a large sum of money in her purse and paid cash for her groceries. I don’t remember if her purse was found open and her wallet was empty. I didn’t attend the trial. Bev is probably the only one who knew how much cash was in her purse when she said she was leaving to go shopping at Safeway for the 2nd time that day. Because Bev’s car was driven and left in Selkirk, the Crown tried to prove Mark placed his dead wife’s body in the car after he murdered her with a hatchet in the backyard and he drove it and left it in Selkirk where it was later found with Bev’s dead body inside. I think the driver’s door was found open. There were no witnesses in this case. Before Mark left the family home, the Crown allege Mark placed his bicycle, which was stored in the garage, into the car to ride home, a distance of 12 miles. Mark is a very large man who claimed he hadn’t ridden his bike since they moved to Selkirk and he wasn’t in shape to ride it.
Police officers searching their property uncovered clumps of hair, specks of blood and small skull fragments that were ultimately linked to Rowbotham in their back yard. They claim they didn’t find more evidence in the backyard because Mark hosed it in an effort to wash away evidence of the killing. Nothing except a yellow dishwashing glove from a ditch along Highway 9 approaching Lower For Garry which appeared to have blood on it was found.
How could Mark commit this murder when his sons were in the house with him when Bev was murdered? No cuts or scratches were found on his body. Mark was found not guilty and he and his sons now live in Saskatchewan. I think he has written a book. Bev’s sister(s) did not agree with the verdict.
http://www.torontosun.com/2012/02/22/stobbe-trial