Gregory Showalter takes stand in own defense

Sep. 20—OTTUMWA — Gregory Showalter Sr. unequivocally denied harming his wife Helen Showalter Wednesday as he took the stand in his own defense.

Showalter told the jury that on July 31, 2021 he left with Helen from their home and went to a job site on Pennsylvania Avenue. There, for about an hour and a half, she helped him clean the site. They then took off for the Cliffland River Access while smoking marijuana.

Once at the river site, Showalter said that his wife Helen had "cracked open" a Miller Lite to which Showalter pointed out to her that part of the couple's ongoing marital problems was her drinking.

He testified that she became angry, told him to "go f--- himself" and he replied, in effect, that she could walk home. On cross-examination, Showalter couldn't describe where Helen had taken the Miller Lite from.

Additionally, while agreeing with the state's timeline and driving route from cell phone records and surveillance video, Showalter testified he believed he and his wife were at the river access area longer than the 4-5 minutes mentioned in testimony from the state's witnesses.

Showalter faces charges of first-degree murder, abuse of a corpse, willful injury, and domestic abuse assault by impeding breathing or circulation. He has pled not guilty to all charges. The most severe charge, first-degree murder, carries a mandatory life sentence without parole upon conviction.

His wife, Helen Showalter, had been reported missing by family on July 31, 2021. Her body was found the next day floating in the Des Moines River near the Cliffland River Access.

Showalter was one of two witnesses called in his defense. Wednesday morning, Dr. Shiping Bao told the jury that the state's medical examiner conducted a thorough autopsy of Helen's body after her death, but came to inaccurate conclusions.

Dr. Kelly Kruse, a forensic pathologist at the Iowa Medical Examiner's Office, testified last week that Helen's death was ruled a homicide caused by strangulation and blunt force trauma.

Bao told the jury, however, that national standards would dictate that there could only be one cause of death. He examined Kruse's report and photos, as well as examined Helen's body more than a month and a half after the original state autopsy.

Bao said his ruling would be that Helen's death was accidental and a result of drowning.

Wapello County Attorney Reuben Neff spent cross-examination attacking Bao's credibility. Bao was fired in 2013 after his involvement in the Trayvon Martin case, where he had offered conflicting testimony during the George Zimmerman trial. On Wednesday, he called reports "fake news" and said his firing was politically-motivated and involved a collusion between the defense and prosecution of the Zimmerman case.

The state rested its case on Tuesday. The defense indicated to the court that it had concluded its witnesses. It's not yet clear if the state will offer any rebuttal witnesses on Thursday, or if the case will proceed to closing arguments, jury instruction and jury deliberation.

Testimony on Tuesday included a state expert at analyzing cell phone data. That expert, Iowa DCI special agent Holly Witt, testified that the cell phones of Gregory and Helen Showalter traveled together on the day of Helen's disappearance, first to a job site on Pennsylvania Avenue.

The phones were there together for about 100 minutes. Gregory Showalter's phone remained at the location and Helen Showalter's phone then traveled on Highway 34 through Eldon and Ashland, and then to the Cliffland River Access area and bridge where it remained for about 5 minutes before proceeding back to Gregory Showalter's residence at 333 Evergreen in Ottumwa.

Don Schnitker, who at the time of the disappearance and death of Helen Showalter was a special agent with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, said Helen Showalter may have been killed at the Pennsylvania Avenue job site, but investigators didn't find evidence that would lead them to say so definitively. Prosecutors also displayed surveillance photos they say show Gregory Showalter driving to the Des Moines River without Helen Showalter sitting in the passenger seat.

Kyle Ocker is the editor of the Ottumwa Courier and the Oskaloosa Herald. He can be reached at kocker@ottumwacourier.com. Follow him on Twitter @Kyle_Ocker.