Crime & Safety
Man Gets Life in Prison for Killing St. Charles Woman, Putting Her Body in Septic Tank
Douglas Howery, 60, was convicted of first-degree murder of his wife Betty Ann Howery, 44, of St. Charles, on Nov. 29. According to reports, Douglas Howery killed his wife and then dumped her in a septic tank to hide her remains.
A man found guilty of killing his wife and then dumping her dead body in a septic tank in 1992 was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, the St. Louis Post-Disatch reports.
Douglas Howery, 60, was convicted by a jury in Audrain County of first-degree murder of his wife Betty Ann Howery, 44, of St. Charles, on Nov. 29.
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(Betty Ann Howery) vanished in February 1992 after a night at their family farm in Annada, MO, in Pike County near the Mississippi River. She was missing until October 2008, when a crew bulldozing the land found her skeleton in an abandoned septic tank.
Authorities found a .38-caliber revolver in the septic tank where Betty Howery’s body was discovered.
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An autopsy concluded her death was a homicide caused by blunt force trauma to the head, said Dr. Mary Case, St. Louis County’s medical examiner who analyzed the remains before the trial.
For more on this story, read The People's Tribune.
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