Appellate court affirms murder conviction of Bellevue man who killed wife

The Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed the first-degree murder conviction of a Bellevue man who shot and killed his estranged wife in 2022. 59-year-old Christopher E. Prichard was convicted in February 2024 of shooting 55-year-old Angela Prichard, also of Bellevue, at the dog kennel business she operated north of town. Despite a protective order that banned him from contacting his wife, evidence presented at trial showed that Christopher Prichard went to the kennels at about 4 a.m. on Oct. 8, 2022, and waited there until Angela Prichard arrived three hours later, when the two argued and Christopher Prichard shot his wife. Christopher Prichard received a mandatory life sentence but appealed his conviction. The appellate court said in its analysis of the appeal that the evidence against Christopher Prichard presented at trial was overwhelming.