Imagine visiting friends for the weekend only to end up with a bullet lodged in your brain. Who hated you enough to want you dead? Listen to the story of how two women discovered that the man they loved, Gregory Owens, was really the devil in disguise.
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TuneInSaco Maine, December 18, 2014
At 2:47 am a call to 911 comes in reporting shots fired. The caller had been shot by a home invader and was downstairs, his wife and her friend were upstairs. He was unsure if they were alive or if the intruder was still in the home. Police headed to the home of Steve and Carol Chabot.
Rachel Owen, 53 was a friend who lived in Londonderry, NH but had come up to spend the weekend with friends. Rachel was married to Gregory Owens, 59 for 35 years and they had an adult son Wayne. Gregory was in the army and when Wayne was a child they traveled all over. Later Gregory retired and began working in the private sector which is when they moved to Londonderry.
Rachel had begun suffering from early-onset dementia and had gone to visit friends as a way to take a break. That day had been normal. They went out to dinner, watched TV, and went to bed.
The Police Arrive
Officers arrived and found Steve still on the phone with the 911 operator. He had been shot and was losing blood, but was not in an extremely serious condition. They are able to get him out of the home. The officers then reentered, preparing to encounter the shooter. They went upstairs and the shooter was not there but the 2 women were. Carol was unharmed, but her friend had been shot 3 times. In the shoulder, abdomen, and in the back of the head. Luckily, when the paramedics got to her she was still alive and could be transported to the hospital where she would be under the full protection of armed guards.
Steve spoke with police and said the intruder was around 5’9”, with a gun and a balaclava.
He had heard a noise downstairs and when he went to the hallway to investigate he saw the intruder climbing the stairs. Carol was behind him and fled to another bedroom, Steve went back into his room and locked the door while the intruder went right for Rachel’s room. The intruder tried to gain entry to where Carol was hiding and failed. He then tried Steve’s door. When he couldn’t he shot through the door three times hitting Steve in the torso. The police were treating this investigation as a home invasion with a shooter at large and didn’t believe Steve had anything to do with it.
Police Inform Rachel’s Husband About The Shooting
When they got Rachel to the hospital the Saco police contacted Londonderry police. They requested that they go to the Owens home to tell Rachel’s husband, Gregory Owens about the shooting. When they did, Gregory went into shock stating that he was having a heart attack. Police helped him to the ground where he could sit and recover.
He was anxious to see his wife, but before escorting him to the hospital police wanted to get some info from him. They questioned him why anyone would want to hurt his wife or maybe him by extension? He couldn’t think of anyone. They also asked if his line of work could put them in danger. He was working in the private military sector specifically counter-terrorism. There was no one, “to the best of his knowledge.”
They also questioned his whereabouts and if he had been in Maine at all that night. He responded stating that he had been at home working on a proposal all night and he had emails that could show it. He only left the house twice, once to go to the Quick-E-Mart to get cigarettes. Gregory Owens was extremely cooperative with the police but also anxious to get to his wife. After questioning he was escorted to Saco to be with his wife in the ICU.
Evidence Is Found
Meanwhile, police investigated the Chabot house, looking for any physical evidence that could lead to the shooter. They were able to uncover a footprint that was left in a flowerbed. The detective on the scene had covered it with his jacket to ensure it was protected from the rain that night.
There was a window in the garage that was broken and it was theorized that this is how the intruder gained entry. Investigators found a single hair between two panes of glass and were able to swab the area for DNA. Finally, in the bedroom where Rachel had been shot, there were shell casings with 1987 printed on them.
Rachel’s condition was not good and the doctors struggled to make a decision about if and how to remove the bullet without causing further damage. They decided to leave it in its place as there was no way to safely remove it. After 36 hours in ICU with her son and husband by her side, Rachel’s vitals began to stabilize.
Police were hopeful that she would be able to give them information about the shooter, but her only memory was that he was wearing what she described as a “Jamaican” hat. They really did not have much to go on.
The Other Woman
Then, the Saco police received a call from a Sheriff in Osh Kosh, WI. The Sheriff was a friend of Betsy Wandtke who had known Gregory Owens for 5 years and had been dating him for 2.
Betsy was on a plane when a stewardess told her that someone had upgraded her to first class. She moved up to first-class and met her knight in shining armor, Gregory. He was sweet, kind, and the two began a friendship. It wasn’t until after Betsy divorced her husband that she accepted starting a romantic relationship with Gregory.
She knew that he traveled a lot for his work and also that he had a wife, Rachel. Gregory told her that he was separated from his wife and that he stuck around because of her health and that he was her caretaker.
Despite this, Betsy fell head over heels in love with Gregory Owens. She was a strong independent woman, but couldn’t resist how charming and romantic he was. He even helped her build her business. Opening a women’s self-defense group known as Warrior Princess. He was living with her and they would vacation together, everything was perfect.
Gregory Owens Is Caught In A Lie
It was as if she saw life through rose-tinted glasses, until 2 weeks prior to the shooting of Rachel Owens. Betsy had seen Gregory calling and answered the phone. He had just left their home in WI to go to Afghanistan for work. She couldn’t hear the call very well as Gregory had only accidentally called her, but she could hear Gregory speaking to his wife. Not only did he lie about where he was, but it was clear that his relationship with his wife was not what he had told her.
Betsy called Gregory Owens and confronted him but he denied saying that he had been on his way to Afghanistan but had to go back to Rachel’s because she had almost burned the house down. To Betsy’s credit, she didn’t believe the lying SOB. She told him that if he wasn’t getting a divorce, they were done.
Betsy reached out to Gregory after hearing that his wife had been shot. She was concerned that it was a difficult time for him. When he spoke to her he said that he believed someone was targeting people he loved and asked her to “go dark” – meaning don’t speak to the police – and that they were both in danger. Betsy believed him and thought that she would be the next target. She loaded every gun in her house and when the local police came to ask her questions she told them that they were just friends and not all that close.
Swat Team Arrests Gregory Owens
After finding out about the double life that Gregory Owens was leading, it became clear to federal investigators that Betsy was the motive for the attempted murder. Rachel was to be released home shortly so police had to move fast if they didn’t want her back in the hands of the man who tried to murder her. As Gregory left the hospital after visiting Rachel a SWAT team surrounded and arrested him. Gregory Owens was charged in federal court for crossing state lines to commit domestic violence.
While imprisoned for his wife’s attempted murder, Gregory reached out to Betsy in the hopes they could continue their relationship after he got out of jail. Gregory professed his undying love for her and told her that he had filed for divorce and they would be together in a few weeks. Betsy didn’t believe him and knew that he was playing on her emotions. Again.
Gregory Owens Trial
About a year after the shooting, the court proceedings for Gregory Owens began. In a search of Gregory’s house, the police found a ski mask and bullets that matched the casings at the scene. The DNA recovered from the crime scene was also a match to Gregory.
The defense illustrated to the courts that there was no identification of Gregory, Gregory’s emails appeared to be sent during the time in question, investigators never recovered the gun, and police couldn’t put Gregory on the highway from New Hampshire to Maine.
The defense said Gregory couldn’t have committed the crime and arrived back to Dunkin Donuts in New Hampshire when he did (around 4:30 am). The DNA was also explained away because Gregory had been to the home before.
As it turns out, investigators discovered Gregory tampered with his computer time stamp so he could use it as part of his alibi. The jury wasn’t buying any of it. After 10 days of trial and 3 hours of deliberation, Gregory Owens was found guilty on all charges. In July of the same year, judge Nancy Torresen decided on a sentence of life plus 20 years for the charges of crossing a state line to commit an act of domestic violence and use of a firearm.
Today, Betsy admits she feels embarrassed that she was connected to Gregory in any way considering her business was created to empower women. But she hopes that it tells women out there to be aware and that it can happen to anyone. Rachel lives with her son and his family. Gregory is sitting in federal prison appealing his conviction.
Resources
- Report: Former mistress says suspect claimed he was on ‘secret mission’ at time of wife’s shooting
- Greg Owens
- Gregory Owens gets life in prison for trying to kill wife in Saco
- FULL EPISODE: The Intruder – Dateline