A St. James man has been found guilty of murdering his estranged wife in January 2020, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly announced on July 31. Michael Owen, 30, was convicted of second-degree murder after he strangled Kelly Owen to death at her South Farmingdale home on Jan. 15, 2020, the DA said. She was 27.
“Kelly Owen was a bright young mother who had aspirations to be a nurse,” Donnelly said in a news release. “She was in the early stages of pregnancy with her estranged husband’s child and wanted to reconcile the marriage. Michael Owen, however, ended those dreams when he strangled his wife with a rope-like object on January 2020. Our condolences are with Kelly’s family as they mourn her senseless loss.”
Kelly Owen was at her apartment on First Avenue in South Farmingdale the day she died. The nursing student lived on the same property as her parents and shared custody of her then-6-year-old child with her husband, Michael, from whom she was separated, prosecutors said. Kelly’s father walked the child to school that morning, investigators said.
Kelly, at the time, was working as an aide at an aftercare program at a local elementary school between 3 and 6 p.m. When she did not show up for work, a co-worker called her parents, and Kelly’s parents discovered their daughter’s lifeless body, officials said.
“[Michael Owen] did not want this child,” Detective Lt. Stephen Fitzpatrick of the Nassau County Police Homicide Squad said at a news conference in January 2020. “He did not want to give her medical insurance. He had this new relationship that he was involved in, and he was in a bad position.”
Video surveillance showed Michael’s vehicle was in Kelly’s neighborhood at 9:30 a.m. the morning he killed her, prosecutors said. Michael, employed as a cell site technician, parked two blocks away from Kelly’s home and turned his phone off before arriving in South Farmingdale so that his cellphone location could not be tracked, authorities said. After strangling Kelly, Michael deleted text messages from both his phone and Kelly’s phone, the DA said.
Michael’s DNA was discovered around Kelly’s neck, officials said.
Michael Owens was arrested Jan. 28, 2020, and his trial started July 17, 2023. The jury deliberated for roughly two hours at the summations Thursday. His sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 19. He faces up to 25 years to life in prison.
Video surveillance recovered from the scene allegedly showed Walker entering and leaving from the motel room where Vaughn was stabbed.
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