Relatives say Richelle Lowry feared her estranged husband as their divorce neared its end.
BENNETT, Colo. — When Richelle Lowry was found shot to death in her home in October 2023, her relatives said they never believed she had taken her own life, and a new grand jury indictment against her estranged husband has now brought those warnings back to the center of the case.
The charges against Ronald Elton Lowry, 52, matter not only because they open a murder prosecution, but because they align with what Richelle Lowry’s loved ones say she had been telling them before she died. Prosecutors allege Ronald Lowry killed her and tried to stage the scene as a suicide. He also faces stalking, evidence-tampering and crime-of-violence counts in a case that investigators say took more than two years to assemble.
Family members have described a woman who was under strain during a divorce but focused on the future. They said Richelle Lowry was counting down the days until the marriage would legally end and had started building a new relationship. Her brother, Dave Norman, later repeated the warning he said she shared before her death: “If anything happens to me, look to him.” His wife, Erika Norman, said Richelle Lowry was preparing for “her next chapter of life,” not planning to end it. That contrast has shaped the public story of the case from the beginning. Authorities were initially investigating the possibility of suicide, but relatives say that explanation never fit what they knew about her state of mind in the days before she died.
The case began after Richelle Lowry failed to report to work on Oct. 26, 2023. Deputies went to her house in Bennett for a welfare check and forced their way inside when no one answered. They found her dead from a single gunshot wound to the head. Investigators later said her cellphone had been submerged in water. Those details were troubling, but the inquiry did not immediately end with a murder charge. Instead, prosecutors say, investigators spent months reviewing medical evidence, technology records and witness accounts before seeking an indictment. District Attorney Amy Padden said the charges represent an important step toward justice for Richelle Lowry.
Witness accounts described by local media give the case its most intimate details. A friend told investigators Richelle Lowry was “very adamant” she would never kill herself. Family members also said she had told them Ronald Lowry frightened her. Those statements now stand beside a prosecution theory that Ronald Lowry was enraged over the pending divorce and jealous of the man Richelle Lowry had begun seeing. Detectives said he searched that man’s name and workplace and kept video of the couple together at a golf course before deleting it. Those actions, prosecutors say, point to fixation and surveillance rather than a marriage that had simply ended.
Investigators also found support for their theory in physical and digital evidence. Local reports on court documents say Richelle Lowry had bruising and a large hematoma on her forehead in addition to the gunshot wound. Male DNA was found on two swabs, though the samples were limited. Phone records placed Ronald Lowry near the house several times, investigators said, and security video showed a person in dark clothing near the property before the camera system stopped recording. A later review concluded the system likely had to be turned off by a person. Ronald Lowry told investigators he had gone to the house the night before the body was found to get the dog, but detectives later raised questions about that account.
The family’s view of motive was personal, but the state’s view is broader. Prosecutors say Ronald Lowry had reason to resent Richelle Lowry’s independence and a possible financial incentive if her death was ruled a suicide. Local reporting on the investigation said authorities found he stood to receive more than $1.3 million under that scenario. The classification of her death also changed over time, moving from early homicide findings to an undetermined manner and later back to homicide after review. For Richelle Lowry’s relatives, those shifts only reinforced how hard they believed investigators still needed to look.
For Richelle Lowry’s relatives, the indictment did not end the story so much as confirm what they say she had already tried to tell people around her. The case now enters a stage where her final warnings, once shared privately with family and friends, are likely to be weighed in court alongside the physical and digital evidence gathered after her death.
Author note: Last updated March 30, 2026.