Love rat killed pregnant wife with a mallet

Jennifer Rothwell was delighted about their baby, but her husband felt differently

- GAIL SHORTLAND

After trying unsuccessfully for a baby with husband Beau for several months, a concerned Jennifer Rothwell was eventually diagnosed with endometriosis. But although she worried that her dream of having children could now be in jeopardy, a determined Jennifer, 28, refused to give up.

It was late 2018 and the couple had been married for almost four years. They both had an engineering background and met as lab partners at the University of Missouri. They’d settled in St Louis, Missouri, where Beau worked as a project manager and Jennifer as a chemical engineer.

But she really longed to start her own family. In the following months the couple continued to try to conceive. Rothwell would later say it took the “spark” out of their marriage as they tracked fertility cycles and took temperatures. Sex had started to feel like a chore.

Then, in September 2019, Jennifer was delighted to discover she was pregnant. She started planning the nursery, discussing names and organising a pregnancy calendar so they could track the size of the baby. But on 12 November, when she was about six weeks pregnant, Beau reported his wife as missing.

He said she’d left for work that morning and he hadn’t heard from her since. Her car was found abandoned a few miles away. She had disappeared during a snowstorm and there were fears for her safety. Rothwell sent messages to his wife’s mobile, distributed “missing” leaflets and joined relatives and colleagues in the search for her. He also pleaded for help on social media.