St. James man convicted in strangulation murder of his estranged, pregnant wife

A Nassau County jury last week convicted a St. James man in the 2020 strangulation death of his pregnant and estranged wife, Nassau District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly said Monday.

Michael Owen, 30, was convicted Friday in Mineola of second-degree murder in the death of Kelly Owen, 27, of Farmingdale. The jury took about two hours to deliberate, Donnelly said in a news release. 

“Kelly Owen was a bright young mother who had aspirations to be a nurse,” Donnelly said in a statement. “She was in the early stages of pregnancy with her estranged husband’s child and wanted to reconcile the marriage. Michael Owen, however, ended those dreams when he strangled his wife with a ropelike object in January 2020. Our condolences are with Kelly’s family as they mourn her senseless loss.”

Owen is scheduled to return to court for sentencing on Sept. 19. He faces a potential maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison. The trial started on July 17, and closing arguments were held on Thursday. 

Owen’s attorney, Joseph Hanshe, said he would file a motion seeking to overturn the conviction. He said the prosecution’s case was based on circumstantial evidence. 

“This was a very emotional case,” Hanshe said. “A woman died.” 

Kelly Owen worked as an aide at an aftercare program at a local elementary school and lived in an apartment on First Avenue in Farmingdale, on the same property as her parents. She shared custody of her 6-year-old with the defendant and was in the early stages of pregnancy with his child, Donnelly said. The victim’s father took the child to school on the morning of Jan. 15, 2020, the day she died, Donnelly said. 

When Kelly Owen did not show up for work that day, a co-worker called her parents. His parents discovered her lifeless body. Donnelly said she was strangled with a “ropelike object.” 

Surveillance video showed that Owen’s vehicle was in the victim’s neighborhood that morning. Michael Owen, a cell site technician, parked two blocks away from his wife’s home and turned his phone off before arriving in Farmingdale so his phone could not be tracked. After the murder, Donnelly said, Owen deleted messages from his phone and his wife’s phone. 

Michael Owen was arrested by members of the Nassau County Police Department’s Homicide Squad on Jan. 28, 2020.