Kriti Mehrotra
It was on the morning of October 8, 2022, that the small town of Bellevue, Iowa, was left baffled to the core as 55-year-old Angela Marie Prichard was heinously killed at her workplace. She had actually been calling the police for help for months upon realizing that her estranged husband, Christopher Eugene Prichard, was stalking her, yet it didn’t stop him from taking her life. This much has even been explored in CBS’ ’48 Hours: Could Angela Prichard Have Been Saved?,’ with a particular focus on whether all precautions had been taken by officials to protect her.
Christopher Prichard Was Reportedly Abusive Towards Angela Prichard
While it’s unclear precisely when Christopher Prichard first came across Angela or tied the knot with her, it was after they were well into adulthood and had had their fair share of experiences. Therefore, the fact they initially seemed to have a nearly idyllic life was no surprise, especially considering she was extremely family-oriented and the proud operator of a local kennel. Little did either of them know everything would turn upside down by the summer of 2022, starting with his arrest for domestic violence on April 18. It was Angela herself who had accused him of this alleged abuse.
Christopher was subsequently handed a no-contact order, but it was terminated less than a month later – on May 3 – and he reportedly immediately began trying to reach his estranged wife. We say estranged because Angela had decided not to reconnect with him in any way, shape, or form following the domestic violence incident, yet it allegedly only drove him to extremes. After all, in the ensuing three months, he not only placed a tracking device on her vehicle but also installed cameras in her home, all the while leaving her threatening notes as well as texts.
Angela contacted the police every single time, only for them to tell her they would warn Christopher or talk to him – never once was he given a written warning or arrested for stalking. In fact, it wasn’t until he texted her, “It is going to get real f***ing ugly” and that he “will destroy her business” in August that she was even granted a restraining order against him on September 1. But alas, his alleged disturbing behavior continued, resulting in her calling the police 9 times over the next 13 days, plus another 4 times by September 23. On one occasion, he had reportedly gone as far as to pull up next to her at a gas station to just stare and intimidate, but still, no real actions were taken against him.
Christopher Prichard Ambushed His Estranged Wife at Her Workplace
Owing to the temporary restraining order Angela was granted, Christopher was taken into custody on September 15 for violating it by leaving a handwritten note on the steps of her home. However, he spent just one night in jail before being released, after which he continued with his alleged torment while also failing to show up to court and then failing to turn himself in for his six-day violation sentence. As a result, a warrant for his arrest was issued on September 30, but it was reportedly never followed up with because no one even went to look for him at his usual spots or take note of his vehicle despite it being a small town. In the end, Angela felt so unsafe in her home that she actually moved in with her sister for a while, unaware that it wouldn’t help because her estranged husband knew her daily routine.
According to court records, Christopher had decided to take matters into his own hands by the end of the first week of October, so he snuck into Angela’s Mississippi Ridge Boarding Kennels. He knew the codes, so it wasn’t hard for him, meaning he was right there waiting for his wife with a shotgun in hand when she stepped into her workplace on the morning of October 8, 2022. Angela dialed 911 as soon as she noticed Christopher, but the dispatchers couldn’t do anything to help except ask nearby deputies/officers to rush to the scene, yet it was already too late. Within moments, the 55-year-old family woman had gone from begging the intruder to get out to screaming his name in a panic to complete silence – a gunshot had rung out, and it had immediately killed her. Because she had cried out “Chris” before the shotgun bullet he had fired hit her, officials knew what they were dealing with before they could even confirm she had passed away.
Christopher Prichard is Currently Serving His Sentence Behind Bars
As per court records, Christopher fled immediately after shooting Angela and was on the run for 16 hours before detectives found and arrested him for first-degree murder and robbery. The fact he still had the murder weapon on him, a 20-gauge shotgun, didn’t help his situation either. Nevertheless, owing to legal delays, further investigations, and additional motions, it wasn’t until 2024 that he stood trial for the charges against him, only to be found guilty within days. As a result, he was sentenced to the mandatory term of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Therefore, today, at the age of 59, he remains incarcerated at the maximum-security Iowa State Penitentiary in Lee County, Iowa.
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