Ottumwa police tell PEOPLE that Gregory Showalter was arrested after he failed to appear in court when a jury returned its verdict in his trial for first-degree murder
An Iowa man was arrested 20 hours after he failed to appear in court on the day he was found guilty of murdering his wife in 2021.
Ottumwa Police Sergeant Derek Shaw tells PEOPLE that Gregory Showalter Sr., 63, was found guilty Friday of first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, willful injury causing serious injury and domestic assault obstructing air/blood flow and causing bleeding injury.
According to Sgt. Shaw, Showalter posted bail and was “out in the community” while awaiting trial.
About Showalter’s failure to appear in court Friday, Sgt. Shaw told PEOPLE, “His trial came and he showed up all week, and then on Friday, when they broke for lunch and the jury came back with the verdict, he was supposed to come back after the lunch break and he never came back. ”
Sergeant Shaw. said police and other agencies then searched Showalter’s residence, where they found he had fled into a wooded area behind his home in Ottumwa, Iowa. Several dogs “were able to follow him for quite a distance before losing track of him,” Shaw added.
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After a judge revoked Showalter’s bail and issued an arrest warrant for his failure to appear for the jury’s verdict return on all four counts, Sgt. Shaw said Ottumwa police were monitoring Showalter’s residence Saturday. After receiving consent to search the premises, the officers “located [Showalter] hiding inside.”
According to Ottumwa CourierLt. Jason Bell told the paper that authorities arrested Showalter at his home around 9:45 a.m. Saturday.
The Iowa Department of Public Safety had previously warned that Showalter was “considered armed and dangerous.”
Gregory Showalter Sr.
Iowa Department of Public Safety
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Sergeant Shaw confirmed to PEOPLE that Showalter was charged with obstructing official business in connection with his actions and booked into the Wapello County Jail. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 16, online records show.
Showalter turned himself in on Aug. 3, 2021, for allegedly killing his wife of 60 years, Helen Showalter, on July 31, 2021, at a workplace on Pennsylvania Avenue in Ottumwa while they were divorcing after 40 years of marriage. Ottumwa Courier reported.
According to the publication, Showalter dumped his wife’s body in the Cliffland River Access area of the Des Moines River, where her body was spotted by a civilian a day after her family reported her missing.
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