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Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION

Stobbe looked 'lost' in interview with RCMP

By: Mike McIntyre

Posted: 02/15/2012 5:36 PM | Last Modified: 02/16/2012 2:04 PM | Updates

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Mark Stobbe is on trial for the 2000 slaying of his wife, Bev Rowbotham, at their Selkirk home. (CP)

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Beverley Rowbotham was slain in October 2000. (POSTMEDIA)

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Mark Stobbe appeared "lost and out of sorts" in a 70-minute interview with police only hours after his wife was found dead.

A Winnipeg jury listened to audio Thursday morning of the Oct. 25, 2000 chat with Stobbe. RCMP Sgt. Sheldon Peddle then explained how Stobbe’s behaviour during the interview caught his attention.

"He wasn’t overly emotional or crying, but he seemed lost," Peddle testified.

In the interview, Stobbe begins by giving a basic rundown of the hours preceding the discovery of Beverly Rowbotham’s body inside her vehicle parked outside a Selkirk, Manitoba gas station.

Stobbe, 54, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder for the slaying. He's accused of hitting Rowbotham in the head 16 times with either a hatchet or an axe, and then moving her body from the backyard of their St. Andrews home to Selkirk. The Crown's theory is Stobbe bicycled back to his house before phoning relatives, the local hospital and RCMP.

Police quickly began asking Stobbe about his marital status with Rowbotham, including whether she might have been having an affair.

"I would be the most surprised person in the world," Stobbe replied. "We had a pretty good marriage."

He admitted there were problems, especially after they moved from Regina to Winnipeg earlier that summer after Stobbe landed a communications job with the provincial NDP government. He said Rowbotham was "unhappy" for the first few weeks, largely due to the constant rainfall and mosquitos she encountered in Manitoba.

Stobbe said they had gone to marriage counselling on three occasions in Regina, but they got "kicked out" because they were doing so well. The counsellor even joked she wished everyone got along as well as they did.

Stobbe told police he was at home with his two sons on the night of the slaying. He said he fell asleep after Rowbotham left to go grocery shopping. He said he woke up in the early-morning hours and discovered his wife was missing. That set off a series of frantic phone calls to police, the hospital and family and friends.

Jurors heard this week RCMP began conducting surveillance of Stobbe in the days following the killing -- even following him to Saskatchewan for her funeral. Retired corporal Randy Randell testified police tried to build a case against him almost immediately. They were secretly monitoring his movements while trying to gather forensic evidence from two crime scenes.

Randell provided insight into the early stages of the investigation, which included carefully crafted media releases that held back certain details about the attack on Rowbotham. Randell said there were several pieces of "hold-back" evidence only the killer would know about.

Police have also testified Rowbotham's killer attempted to clean the crime scene either before or after moving her body.

Insp. Bruce Maclean, a retired RCMP blood-spatter expert, said he was surprised by how little blood was found in the backyard and garage of the couple's home. It's possible the lack of blood could be explained if Rowbotham was attacked, wrapped in a tarp and then placed in her car, Maclean said.

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