‘No justice for Bev’

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This article was published 29/04/2012 (4927 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Murder victim Beverly Rowbotham’s family is devastated by the Crown’s decision not to appeal the acquittal of her husband, Mark Stobbe.

The Crown said Saturday it will not appeal Stobbe’s acquittal in the brutal 2000 slaying of his wife.

A jury found the 54-year-old Stobbe not guilty of second-degree murder last month in the death of his wife.

The family is devastated by the Crown’s decision, Rowbotham’s sister, Barbara Kilpatrick, said Saturday morning from Rocky Mountain House, Alta.

“I’m very disappointed,” said Kilpatrick, who received a call from the Crown Friday afternoon.

“We’ve waited 12 years for this trial — to have it go the way it went was devastating.

“The appeal was our last hope. There’s no justice for Bev,” she said.

The Crown issued a brief statement Saturday.

“A review conducted by British Columbia and Manitoba prosecutors has concluded that there are no grounds meeting the necessary legal standard to pursue an appeal of the acquittal of Mark Stobbe,” said a spokesman.

“The legal standard for the Crown to bring an appeal is a legal error on a question of law arising during the trial that reasonably could have had a material impact on the decision made by the jury. The review found that no legal error could be established.

“Accordingly, an appeal will not be taken of the acquittal of Mr. Stobbe. Manitoba Prosecution Service will not be making further comment on the matter.”

“Someone got away with murder,” Kilpatrick said, adding she had no indication which way the Crown was leaning.

“I hoped an appeal would happen,” she said.

Another sister, Betty Rowbotham, said from Lockport Saturday she is not yet ready to talk about the Crown’s decision.

“I really don’t know at this time,” Rowbotham said. “We’re going to take some time to think about this — it’s pretty fresh.”

Kilpatrick said Stobbe’s sister had been arranging for her and Betty Rowbotham to visit Stobbe’s and Rowbotham’s two sons twice a year in Saskatoon, but the sister has left that city.

She said the sisters want to keep seeing their nephews. “They need to know about their mom,” she said.

The Crown had 30 days to decide on an appeal. A jury deliberated for three days late last month before acquitting Stobbe following a two-month trial.

Rowbotham was killed in October 2000.

She was struck 16 times in the head with a hatchet or axe in the backyard of their St. Andrews home. Her body was then moved to her vehicle in the garage, and then moved to a parking lot in Selkirk.

Stobbe was charged in 2008.

nick.martin@freepress.mb.ca