RCMP receptionist told Stobbe wife was dead

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Beverley Rowbotham: seen at Safeway (POSTMEDIA)

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

Beverly Rowbotham’s husband was still asking if RCMP had found his wife when a police receptionist mistakenly revealed to him she was dead.

Iris Kachkowsky, who worked in the Selkirk RCMP office, testified on Wednesday Mark Stobbe phoned her early on Oct. 25, 2000, to report Rowbotham was missing.

Kachkowsky said during the four-minute call at 2:41 a.m., Stobbe was "very polite. Very nice. He wasn’t excited."

But a few hours later, when an emotional Stobbe phoned back, Kachkowsky knew officers had already found Rowbotham’s body.
"He wanted to know what we were doing to try to find his wife," she told the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench jury on Wednesday. "He was very upset. He was crying from what I gathered. I said ‘They’re doing what they can and they’ll let you know.’ "

When asked how Kachkowsky could be sure Rowbotham’s body had already been found when she spoke to Stobbe a second time, she admitted it was because "I slipped up.
"I offered him my condolences… he was upset so I thought (an officer) had told him."

Stobbe, a former high-ranking adviser in the Doer government, has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder.

Rowbotham, the mother of two boys, was found dead in the back seat of the family sedan. Court has heard the Crown believes she was slain in the backyard of her RM of St. Andrews home. Her body was put in the car and driven to Selkirk.

The Crown has told court it's believed Stobbe repeatedly attacked Rowbotham with an axe or hatchet, drove her to Selkirk and rode a bicycle back to their home 15 kilometres away.

Also on Wednesday, court was told a Winnipeg man looking for abandoned fishing gear found  Rowbotham's wallet on the shore of the Red River.

Brian Haines testified he found a woman's wallet on the shore of the Red River near Captain Kennedy's Tea House in the RM of St. Andrews, on a rock which had become exposed when the water level was reduced by the Lockport locks in preparation for winter.

Haines said he found a $10 bill inside but no identification or credit cards. He put two and two together after finding a photo in the wallet of two young boys and then looking through recent copies of newspapers for articles on Rowbotham's slaying.

He said he figured it was Rowbotham's wallet because "the picture in the paper was identical to the one in the Winnipeg Sun and then it clicked."

Haines said he found the wallet just days after the slaying of Rowbotham, about seven metres out from the riverbank.

Earlier, the court heard Rowbotham bought more than three dozen food items just hours before her slaying.

During questioning by the Crown, Linda Fortne, the former assistant manager of the Safeway store in Selkirk, said Rowbotham bought 37 items in total on Oct. 24, 2000, including eggs, pork loin and different muffins, and paid $108.32.

Store surveillance tape shown in court earlier this week showed Rowbotham and her son walking to various departments in the store for more than three quarters of an hour.

Fortne said because the woman used her Safeway loyalty card, the store could track her shopping habits.

Crown witnesses have said Stobbe told them his wife disappeared while out for groceries the night of Oct. 24, 2000. They said Stobbe told them Rowbotham had been at Safeway earlier in the day, but had to leave because her youngest son was acting up, so she planned to return later that evening.

The Crown is trying to poke holes in that story. Rowbotham's $108.32 in purchases was more than usual, according to store records produced by Fortne. Store surveillance cameras show Rowbotham spent 46 minutes in the store and she appeared to be in no rush.

"She spent quite a bit of time in the meat department," Fortne said.

Several relatives have already testified Stobbe told them Rowbotham had said she was on her way to Safeway to pick up some groceries she hadn’t got earlier because one of their young sons had started acting up.

While Rowbotham was not caught continuously on camera, the images that were captured do not show her son acting up.

The physical evidence produced so far includes small bone fragments, drops of blood and other material found in the backyard. DNA testing showed the remnants came from Rowbotham.

But the Crown has not produced any witnesses who saw the couple arguing.

With files from The Canadian Press