Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced on Jan. 11 that a St. James man was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the murder of his estranged wife in January 2020.
Michael Owen, 30, was convicted of Murder in the Second Degree (an A-I felony) on July 28, 2023, at a trial before Judge Robert McDonald.
“Michael Owen drove to his estranged wife’s house on January 15, 2020, with the intention of killing her,” said DA Donnelly. “Kelly was a young mother and pregnant with Owen’s child at the time of her brutal murder. She worked with children and had dreams of becoming a nurse. Michael Owen stole those dreams, and now he will pay for his crimes in prison. Our thoughts remain with Kelly’s family as they continue to mourn her loss.”
DA Donnelly said that on January 15, 2020, Kelly Owen was at her apartment on First Avenue in Farmingdale. The 27-year-old nursing student lived on the same property as her parents and shared custody of her then-six-year-old child with her husband, Michael, from whom she was separated. Kelly’s father walked the child to school that morning.
At the time, Kelly Owen worked as an aide at an aftercare program at a local elementary school between the hours of 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. When she did not show up for work, a co-worker called Kelly’s parents, and her parents discovered the woman’s lifeless body.
Kelly Owen was strangled with a rope-like object, and it was determined that she was in the early stages of pregnancy with Michael Owen’s child.
Video surveillance revealed that the defendant’s vehicle was in the victim’s neighborhood at approximately 9:30 that morning. Michael Owen – who was employed as a cell site technician – parked two blocks away from Kelly’s home and turned his phone off before arriving in Farmingdale, making his cellphone location undetectable.
DNA evidence from the defendant was discovered around the victim’s neck.
Michael Owen was arrested by members of the Nassau County Police Department’s Homicide Squad on January 28, 2020.
Senior Litigation Counsel Ania Pulaski of the Homicide Bureau is prosecuting this case. The defendant is represented by the Joseph Hanshe, Esq.
