Rowe Shot Self Three Months Before Wife's Death

Three months before Michael Rowe was and setting his house on fire, he shot himself, according to a Powder Springs police report. 

The report, dated Oct. 28, 2010, says police were dispatched to Rowe’s house at 3544 Ponderosa Lane on a report of a person shot. 

When they arrived, his wife was crying while on the phone outside the house.

The report identifies her as Kathy Rowe, though police have maintained since she on Jan. 24 that her name is Kathy R. Robertson. Her body was discovered that morning in the couple’s house after the flames that engulfed it were extinguished.

Rowe allegedly struck his 55-year-old wife’s head multiple times with an unknown weapon and set their house on fire before fleeing. He was found by police early the next morning in the Walmart parking lot on Barrett Parkway.

He faces charges of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and first-degree arson.

The day of the fire, Katie McMichen, who lives two houses down, described her street as generally quiet—except for the two incidents at Rowe and Robertson’s house. 

“This (the fire) is about the first thing that’s happened in our neighborhood other than, he did shoot himself about I guess two, three months ago. But he lived,” she said.

Police responded to Rowe shooting himself under the assumption he still was alive, according to the Oct. 28 report. Dispatchers had radioed that he was “still conscious and breathing.”

When the first two officers to arrive entered the house, 51-year-old Rowe was sitting on a couch in the living room, shirtless and holding a blanket to his chest. Police found the gun in the couple’s bedroom.

He told the two officers his arm was going numb and requested that they call his father “in case he ‘did not make it,’” the report says.

Other police officers began to arrive, followed by fire and medical personnel. Rowe was given care at the house then transported to Atlanta Medical Center. 

Near the end of the report, the couple’s problems are described as originating from Rowe’s unemployment woes.

“Kathy Rowe said that Michael Rowe has been upset because he was laid off after 24 years of service with his job,” the report reads. “In addition, she and her husband have been getting into verbal altercations.”

The day of the fire, Rowe’s father, Thomas, touched slightly on the couple’s problems stemming from Rowe not having a job.

“They’ve been having some problems lately, but I won’t go into a lot of details on that part,” Thomas Rowe said on Jan. 24.

The Oct. 28 report references Robertson submitting a written statement to police. Investigators said this week that they could not release the statement or other documents related to the case, citing the ongoing investigation.

Rowe had , a bond hearing, on Jan. 26. He wasn’t awarded a bond since law prohibits those charged with murder from being given one. 

His next court appearance is scheduled for Feb. 22.

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