A man was apprehended after he failed to show up to court when a jury reached a guilty verdict, causing an hours-long manhunt.
Sixty-three-year-old Gregory Showalter was due to appear in court Sept. 22 when the jury found him guilty of first-degree murder. Court records show he was also convicted of abuse of a corpse, willful injury, and domestic abuse assault impeding air/blood flow in connection with his wife Helen Showalter’s death.
A Wapello County judge issued a bench warrant for failure to appear. Showalter was taken into custody the next day.
According to the Ottumwa Courier, police located Showalter at his home at around 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 23. Showalter was reportedly hiding behind a chair and refused to cooperate with the officers’ demands. They eventually managed to move him from behind the chair and into a position where they could arrest him.
He had previously been released on bond and ordered to wear a GPS monitor, but he reportedly cut it off prior to his escape.
Showalter was arrested and charged with murder and felon in possession of a firearm in August 2021 after Helen Showalter’s body was discovered on a boat ramp, the Des Moines Register reports. Court records indicate Helen Showalter filed for divorce in July 2021.
Showalter will be sentenced on Oct. 16 and will be held without bail until then.