HARRISBURG, Pa. — A jury has found Christopher Rowe, 50, guilty of first-degree murder in the 2016 killing of his former girlfriend, Kaylene Roedel, just days after his release from jail for assaulting her, Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry announced Thursday.
The jury also convicted Rowe of aggravated assault and filing false reports to law enforcement. Roedel, a mother and Rowe’s former partner, was found dead on August 7, 2016, on a hiking trail in Johnstown. Authorities revealed that Rowe had threatened Roedel at her workplace in the days leading up to her disappearance.
Evidence presented during the trial included surveillance footage of Roedel’s vehicle near the scene where her body was discovered, with Rowe in possession of the car. Prosecutors also introduced witness testimony that Rowe admitted to strangling Roedel and threatened to kill the witness if they revealed what he had confessed.
“The defendant brutally murdered this woman — the mother of his child — after publicly threatening her at her place of employment,” said Attorney General Henry. She commended the work of law enforcement and jurors in achieving the conviction and added, “Nothing will bring Kaylene back, but we hope this verdict offers a small measure of peace for her loved ones.”
Rowe faces a mandatory life sentence without parole when he is formally sentenced in January 2025.