Wife Charged in Husband’s 2012 Fatal Shooting

A Clay County grand jury has charged a 53-year-old Warsaw woman with first-degree murder in the 2012 fatal shooting of her husband.

Viola Patience Bowman is being held at the Benton County jail and also is facing charges of armed criminal action. Her bond has been set at $1 million.

Police had initially investigated the November 2012 death of 53-year-old Albert Bowman as a possible home invasion. Viola Bowman said she found her husband's body after returning to get ice cream.

It wasn't immediately clear if Bowman has an attorney yet. Investigators haven't commented on a possible motive in the case.

Albert Bowman had been an 11-year employee of Kansas City's Water Services Department. He and his wife had been married since 1978.