Owens, 60, is serving a life sentence in Virginia at United States Penitentiary, Hazelton after being found guilty in February in U.S. District Court to federal charges of interstate domestic violence and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, and later sentenced in July.
Owens left his Londenderry, New Hampshire in the early hours of Dec. 18, 2014, and drove to the Saco home of Steven and Carol Chabot, where his wife, Rachel, had been visiting, according to prosecuters.
Owens, disguised as an intruder, broke into the Chabot’s home and shot Steven Chabot and Rachel Owens. Carol Chabot hid in a locked room and avoided injury.
Both Steven Chabot and Rachel Owens survived the attack, but Rachel Owens has dibilitating injuries as a result.
Prosecuters say Owens drove back home after the shooting. Owen said he was at home in New Hampshire during the time of the shooting doing work on his computer. Police found that he had altered the time clock on his computer to change the time sent on a work email and also discovered DNA that matched his at the Chabot’s home.
According to prosecutors, Owens intended to kill his wife of 35 years so he could be free to have a relationship with his girlfriend in Wisconsin, who had recently found out he had lied about being in the process of getting a divorce.
Shortly after being sentenced, Owens began the process of appealing the federal court decision.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston Thursday granted Owens an extension from the previous Dec. 27 deadline for sending in paperwork necessary for the appeal to Jan. 11.
According to court documents, Owens attorney, Sarah Churchill, made the request on Dec. 14. Churchill said Owens had not received a mailing from her as of Dec. 1, and she had been unable to talk with Owensover the phone due to a prison lockdown that had been in effect since Dec. 2.
Churchill said in the Dec. 14 documents that due to the lockdown, the “the flow of information coming into and out of the facility has slowed to a crawl,” and the facility was conducting a review to see if Owens had received mail from her.
— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or [email protected].
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