Naman Shrestha
A young 21-year-old man named Ricky Cowles Jr. had a bright future ahead of him. In fact, he was looking forward to becoming a father for a second time. Unfortunately, fate had other plans. Given his warm personality, his sudden demise in August 1997 in Lancaster, California, shook the entire community to its core and left them with many unanswered questions. The episode titled ‘Killing Time’ of NBC’s ‘Dateline’ explores the in-depth details surrounding the case and the years-long investigation that led the detectives to multiple accomplices responsible for the planning and execution of Ricky’s murder.
Ricky Cowles Jr. Was in Critical Condition When His Girlfriend Found Him
On March 23, 1976, in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Richard and Evelyn Cowles were blessed with Richard Lynn “Ricky” Cowles Jr. Raised alongside his sisters, Shaelynn Debbie and Jennifer, Ricky grew up to be a compassionate person who loved helping others in need, allowing him to make many friends along the way. With a bright future ahead of him, he joined his family business, where he worked as an electrician. Ricky was in a committed relationship with Amy Preasmyer. He also had a daughter named Kayley Lynn, seemingly from a previous relationship. Around July 1997, they moved in together in a property in Lancaster, California, which they shared with their mutual friend, Jennifer Kellogg. The couple was also looking forward to entering parenthood as Amy was 15 weeks pregnant when fate intervened.
On the fateful day of August 12, 1997, Ricky was found unresponsive inside the Lancaster, California, apartment he shared with his girlfriend, who reported the same to the authorities. When the authorities arrived, they rushed him to a nearby hospital to be treated, but unfortunately, the gunshot wound to his head turned out to be fatal, and he was officially declared dead on August 14 at the age of 21. Upon inspecting the crime scene, robbery was ruled out as nothing was missing from the apartment, and there were no signs of forced entry. Thus, the detectives suspected that someone close to the deceased might be involved in the murder. What followed was an extensive investigation that led them to shocking revelations.
Confession From the Killer of Ricky Cowles Jr. Led to His Arrest
After a difficult initial phase of the investigation, which didn’t turn up any hard evidence, the detectives finally got a break in the case when they interviewed the family and friends of Ricky Cowles Jr. According to witness statements, the relationship between him and his girlfriend, Amy Preasmyer, was far from perfect. They alleged that the couple had been going through a turbulent phase as Amy blamed Ricky for getting her pregnant at such a young age. When the investigators questioned her, she denied all the allegations against her and her relationship with Ricky. She also provided them with a solid alibi and claimed she found her boyfriend lying unresponsive in the bedroom of their apartment in the 43400 block of Gadsden Avenue in Lancaster, California.
In the following months, the detectives received a tip that linked a former store clerk named William “Billy” Hoffman to the 1997 murder of Ricky Cowles Jr. When they questioned him and got a confession out of him, he was arrested and charged with the killing. According to reports, Billy had stayed hidden inside the victim’s place of residence. When he returned home around 9 pm after fixing lights at the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds, Billy ambushed him and brutally killed him. During his trial in 1999, the prosecution alleged that he was hired by someone else to commit the murder. Several witnesses also took the stand and testified that Billy had killed Ricky for the latter’s girlfriend, Amy, who continued to deny her involvement.
The Killer Implicated Other Accomplices, Leading to Their Convictions
Ultimately, in October 1999, Billy was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, in addition to 10 years for using a claw hammer and a gun to attack Ricky. A few years later, in 2002, after embracing Christianity, the killer felt remorseful for his crimes and sent a letter to Ricky’s family, detailing how Amy orchestrated the murder. As the detectives dug deeper into Amy’s possible involvement, they learned that she and Jennifer Kellogg invited Billy over to the apartment and strategized together, as they also showed him hiding places inside the house.
Thus, in 2005, after the investigators gathered enough evidence, Amy, Jennifer, and their friend, David Ashbury, were arrested for being involved in the murder of Ricky Cowles Jr. David was the first to stand trial in October 2005, during which he pleaded no contest to being an accessory. The 28-year-old man was eventually sentenced to two years in prison on January 6, 2006. More than a year later, on July 30, 2007, after the jury deliberated for more than a couple of weeks, Amy Lynn Preasmyer was convicted of murder with the special-circumstance allegations of lying in wait, conspiracy, and solicitation of murder in connection with the 1997 killing of her boyfriend.
The prosecution stated, “She had reached a point, I believe, where in her own words, she blamed the victim for the pregnancy and basically told other people he had ruined her birthday and ruined her life. There was other evidence she despised the victim. By August 1997, she is actively looking for someone to kill him.” As for the third accomplice, Jennifer Kellogg pleaded guilty to solicitation to commit murder and manslaughter, resulting in her receiving a 17-year imprisonment sentence in 2008.
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