Arkansas Gazette
November 7, 1969
Death of 3rd Spouse Charged To Slayer of Arkanas Mate
MOUNT PLESANT, TX - Murder charges have been filed at Mount Pleasant, Tex, against Bonnie Barbara Rowland, 48, who has been tried in Arkansas in the deaths of her first and second husbands.
Mrs. Rowland was charged Wednesday in the death of Donald Earl Rowland, 23, her third husband. Bond was set at $10,000.
Mrs. Rowland, a native of Hot Springs told authorities at Mount Pleasant that two men attempted to rob her and her husband in their trailer behind the service station her husband operated.
She said she escaped and called authorities.
Offers reported finding a pistol and a blood-covered hammer near Rowland's body. Authorities said Rowland was badly beaten, but that he died from a gunshot wound.
On April 30, 1959, Mrs. Rowland was charged in Garland Circuit Court at Hot Springs with first-degree murder in the death of her first husband, Joseph Earl Connelly,
Connelly died April 28, 1959, from a pistol wound. The charge against the then Mrs. Connelly was reduced to manslaughter by the jury which then convicted her and sentenced her to three yeas in prison.
On July 9, 1965, she was charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of her second husband, William Thomas Hunter. A change of venue was granted and the then Mrs. Hunter was found guilty at Malvern of manslaughter.
She was then sentenced to two years in prison, but while she was appealing the case Garland County authorities dropped the charges against her. David Whittington, who was the Garland County prosecutor at the time, said suicide notes had been found that the FBI said were written by Hunter.
Arkansas Gazette
November 7, 1969
Death of 3rd Spouse Charged To Slayer of Arkanas Mate
MOUNT PLESANT, TX - Murder charges have been filed at Mount Pleasant, Tex, against Bonnie Barbara Rowland, 48, who has been tried in Arkansas in the deaths of her first and second husbands.
Mrs. Rowland was charged Wednesday in the death of Donald Earl Rowland, 23, her third husband. Bond was set at $10,000.
Mrs. Rowland, a native of Hot Springs told authorities at Mount Pleasant that two men attempted to rob her and her husband in their trailer behind the service station her husband operated.
She said she escaped and called authorities.
Offers reported finding a pistol and a blood-covered hammer near Rowland's body. Authorities said Rowland was badly beaten, but that he died from a gunshot wound.
On April 30, 1959, Mrs. Rowland was charged in Garland Circuit Court at Hot Springs with first-degree murder in the death of her first husband, Joseph Earl Connelly,
Connelly died April 28, 1959, from a pistol wound. The charge against the then Mrs. Connelly was reduced to manslaughter by the jury which then convicted her and sentenced her to three yeas in prison.
On July 9, 1965, she was charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of her second husband, William Thomas Hunter. A change of venue was granted and the then Mrs. Hunter was found guilty at Malvern of manslaughter.
She was then sentenced to two years in prison, but while she was appealing the case Garland County authorities dropped the charges against her. David Whittington, who was the Garland County prosecutor at the time, said suicide notes had been found that the FBI said were written by Hunter.
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