Diane German was strangled before she was found in the pool at her Northeast Sixth Street home, police say.
OCALA, Fla. — Diane German’s death first reached many Ocala residents as a shock from a familiar name in the restaurant community. Months later, police said her boyfriend was responsible.
German, 72, owned Wolfy’s of Ocala and had spent years in the area’s restaurant and catering businesses. Her body was found Dec. 28 in the swimming pool at her home on Northeast Sixth Street. On April 6, Ocala police arrested Michael Rowland, 50, in Jacksonville on charges of second-degree murder and tampering with evidence.
German was a public figure in a local way, known less through politics or institutions than through dining rooms, kitchens and customers. She had taken over Wolfy’s with her son, Anthony Viktora, nearly two years before her death. The diner on East Silver Springs Boulevard had been part of the city’s restaurant scene, and local reports after her death described employees, relatives and friends as stunned. German had also worked in catering and other restaurant ventures. She had lost her husband in 2020 and left behind two adult children and a grandchild. The criminal case now adds a second chapter to the loss first felt by her family and the people who knew her through work.
The first call to police did not describe a killing. Investigators said Rowland called 911 at about 7 a.m. Dec. 28 and reported that he had found German unresponsive in the pool. Officers arrived and found her dead. Rowland told detectives he had pulled her from the water after finding her floating there. Police said there was water through parts of the home, a detail that first matched parts of his statement. But detectives continued to examine the scene, the timeline and the physical evidence. The Medical Examiner’s Office later ruled German’s death a homicide, citing evidence of strangulation.
Once the medical ruling undercut the drowning account, detectives focused on what happened the night before the 911 call. Police said German’s phone activity stopped around 9:30 p.m. Dec. 27. After that, she stopped answering messages. Investigators said surveillance footage showed Rowland arriving at German’s house around the same time. Police also said phone records, video and other evidence placed him at the home the night before she was found dead. In a public statement, the Ocala Police Department said no other people were identified at the home during the critical timeframe, and no other suspects had been named.
The phone became one of the case’s most important objects. Police said an empty, wet phone case was found in the garage, while German’s phone was located inside Rowland’s van. Rowland allegedly told officers that the phone had also been in the pool. Detectives said the device showed no signs of water damage. Ocala-News reported that the arrest report described the phone as broken and folded and said it was found stashed in the driver’s seat cushion with a laptop and charging cords. Police have not released every detail of the forensic review, but the phone evidence helped investigators challenge Rowland’s account of what he found and when he found it.
Investigators also said Rowland’s own phone contained a search that drew attention. Police said they found an internet search about how to reset a video surveillance system. That detail appeared alongside the surveillance evidence that placed Rowland at German’s home before she was found. Detectives did not publicly say whether the search was made before or after German died, whether a surveillance system at the home was altered or whether any video files were lost. But the search was cited in reports as part of the evidence supporting the tampering charge and the claim that the death scene had been staged.
The relationship between German and Rowland is also part of the investigation. Friends and family told police that the two had been arguing and were breaking up, according to the arrest report. Police said Rowland denied that. Ocala-News reported that Rowland told detectives German had been allowed to see other men and that he said he saw communications from another man on her phone. Investigators have not announced a final motive. The case described in public reports instead moves through a series of claimed facts: conflict in the relationship, a late-night stop in phone activity, Rowland’s presence at the home, a body in the pool and a medical finding of strangulation.
The charge of second-degree murder signals that prosecutors are accusing Rowland of an unlawful killing but have not charged the case as premeditated murder. The evidence-tampering charge is tied to allegations that evidence was concealed, moved or altered after the death. Reports said Rowland was expected to be extradited or transported to Marion County after his arrest in Jacksonville. At the time of early coverage, court records did not list his next court date. Prosecutors will decide how to present the case after reviewing the police investigation, forensic findings and arrest report.
Police have described the investigation as a months-long effort that required detectives to compare statements against records. The Ocala Police Department thanked Detective Grosso and other staff members for what it called dedicated, thorough work. “We extend our deepest condolences to Diane German’s family,” the department stated. The public statement did not include a long narrative of the case, but it tied the arrest to the medical examiner’s homicide ruling, surveillance footage, phone records and other evidence. It also said investigators found no evidence of another person at the home during the key period.
For people who knew German through Wolfy’s, the case has connected a community loss with a criminal prosecution. The restaurant owner remembered after her death is now also the named victim in a murder case. Police say her death was not a pool accident, and the man who reported finding her is accused of killing her and trying to hide evidence.
Rowland was charged with second-degree murder and tampering with evidence. The next public developments are expected in Marion County court records as the case moves toward arraignment and further hearings.
Author note: Last updated April 30, 2026.