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A man from Colorado is facing serious charges following the death of his estranged wife, whose autopsy revealed “suspicious” bruising. Authorities have charged Ronald Elton Lowry, 52, with first-degree murder in connection with the death of Richelle Lowry. This information comes from a press release issued by the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office. Alongside the murder charge, Lowry is also facing charges of stalking, tampering with physical evidence, causing serious bodily injury or death, and using a deadly weapon.
Lowry was taken into custody and booked at the Morgan County Jail on February 27. It remains unclear whether he has entered a plea at this time.
The circumstances surrounding Richelle’s death initially led to questions about whether it could have been a suicide. However, further investigation confirmed it was a homicide, according to the press release.
The investigation began on October 26, 2023, when police performed a welfare check on Richelle after she did not appear for work. Amid a divorce process, Ronald Lowry himself had requested the welfare check, citing his lack of access to her home, as detailed in a grand jury indictment reported by Oxygen.
On Oct. 26, 2023, police conducted a welfare check on Richelle, after she failed to show up for work. Ronald, who was in the middle of a divorce from Richelle, had also requested a welfare check, according to a grand jury indictment obtained by Oxygen, as he allegedly no longer had access to her home.
Police found Richelle lying face-down on her bathroom floor, per the indictment, dead from a shot in the head. A handgun lay underneath her right shoulder, her arms were folded under her body, and her cell phone was partially submerged in a bowl of water.
Elsewhere according to the indictment, police found a note from Ronald to Richelle, dated Sept. 2023 which allegedly indicated that he still loved her.
An autopsy mentioned in the affidavit stated that Richelle died from a “close range” gunshot wound to the head and there was “suspicious” bruising on her body and a large hematoma on her forehead.
Meanwhile, a neighbor, who was cited in the indictment, claimed Richelle had expressed being scared for her life and told her, “If anything happened to her, Ronald would be responsible.” The neighbor said that Richelle was “very adamant” that she was not suicidal, a sentiment with which Richelle’s parents agreed, per the indictment.
However, Ronald allegedly told neighbors she had died by suicide, according to the indictment. “Ronald then accessed his cell phone,” a neighbor shared, “and started offering proof of his whereabouts at specific dates and times.”
Richelle’s parents also told police that Richelle had been dating someone new, according to the doc. Ronald claimed that he didn’t know about Richelle’s new relationship until Oct. 26—the day her body was found—however, text messages from earlier that month suggested otherwise.
When police downloaded the contents of Ronald’s phone, they found videos recorded in October 2023, depicting Richelle and her boyfriend at a golf course.
In text messages quoted in the indictment, Ronald allegedly told another individual that Richelle had been seeing the man “behind my back.” The indictment also quoted a note, allegedly from his phone in which he called Richelle a narcissist and a “manipulative lying, cheating person.”
According to security footage from Richelle’s home that was recorded on Oct. 24, an unknown man was seen walking around outside, police noted in the indictment. The man was wearing a hat that looked similar to one shown in a photo on Ronald’s phone.
An attorney for Ronald could not be located by Oxygen.