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Court told Stobbe appeared to be 'frantic' in hours after wife's death

By: Mike McIntyre

Posted: 02/13/2012 1:33 PM

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Mark Stobbe (left) is on trial for allegedly killing his wife Beverly Rowbotham in 2000.

Mark Stobbe appeared to be "frantic" in the hours following his wife’s violent death, a Winnipeg jury heard Monday.

Stobbe, 54, has pleaded not guilty to killing Beverly Rowbotham, his wife of seven years, with an axe or hatchet during an argument in October 2000 at the couple's St. Andrews home.

One of Rowbotham’s best friends testified Monday how Stobbe called her in Saskatoon to report the tragedy.

"Mark said he had fallen asleep with the boys, woke up quite late, and Bev wasn’t home. He became quite frantic about that, calling around and calling police," said Delores Burkart, who appeared in court via video link from Saskatchewan.

Jurors have previously been told Rowbotham was slain in the couple's backyard, moved into the family sedan and driven to Selkirk where the vehicle was abandoned. The Crown's theory is Stobbe bicycled back to his house before phoning relatives, the local hospital and RCMP.

"Mark said Bev had gone grocery shopping earlier in the day, but the little one was acting up so she cut it short and would finish later after Mark was home," said Burkart. "I was asking a lot of questions. I wanted to understand what happened."

Burkart said she asked Stobbe whether Rowbotham might have been raped, robbed or possibly stalked. Stobbe told her police had given him little information. He did say their backyard was very dark and there were no locks on the garage, she told jurors.

Court heard from Rowbotham's best friend, Mary Ellen Dewar, last week. While other relatives and friends said the couple had a loving relationship, Dewar said Rowbotham confided to her a few weeks before her death during a visit at her Alberta home that "things weren't going well with Mark."

"She did say it was a matter of course in a marriage," she said.

Dewer testified that a few weeks later during a telephone call, she didn't ask Rowbotham how the relationship was going, but she said Rowbotham did sound more settled.

An RCMP blood-spatter expert began testifying late Monday morning, telling jurors about the various patterns he analyzed in Stobbe’s garage.

The trial began two weeks ago and is set to last until the end of March and will include nearly 80 witnesses.

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