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Fort Hood soldier gets life for murder plot

LAMPASAS, Texas — A Fort Hood soldier was sentenced to life in prison without parole for a murder-for-hire plot in which his wife shot to death last summer outside a Veterans of Foreign Wars pool hall.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Donald Dean Gower, 40, was sentenced Thursday after jurors convicted him of capital murder in the death of Hidi Gower. Lampasas County prosecutors did not seek the death penalty.

Her brother, Dan Booth, said the family was happy with the jury’s decision.

Although the murder happened in Kempner, about 20 miles west of Fort Hood in Central Texas, the Army chose not to request jurisdiction, so the case was not tried in a military court.

Gower was accused of offering to pay Jeremiah John Ellison and John Robert Martinez to kill his wife. Ultimately, the shooting was carried out by Chaka Romain Johnson, who was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to life in prison in June.

Ellison and Martinez testified for the prosecution at both trials. Neither has gone to trial yet.

Gower’s former girlfriend, Regina Edwards, who was arrested with the four men but whose case was later dropped, also testified for the prosecution in both trials. Gower met the three men, who are not soldiers, through Edwards.

Prosecutors presented evidence that Gower had been planning his wife’s murder for several months, hoping to obtain a $100,000 life insurance policy, and gave $250 to one of the men to buy a gun. Gower also offered one of the men $25,000 at one time and then $10,000 to kill his wife, according to testimony.

But Gower’s attorney John Galligan argued that his client, who has almost 20 years of military service, has been taking a large amount of medication for mental disorders and service-related physical injuries. Gower served in Desert Storm but not in Iraq, Galligan said.

According to court testimony, Gower made statements that he wanted to kill his wife and father but later said he didn’t remember saying that.

Last year after his arrest, Gower was deemed incompetent to stand trial and was sent to a state mental facility for several weeks until his mental status improved, but he was ordered to continue taking medication, Galligan said.

Galligan also had argued that the prosecution’s case was based on accomplices’ testimony and that their stories conflicted with each other. He also said they could not be trusted because they were given some immunity by prosecutors.

Galligan said Friday that he thought the Army would start the process of separating Gower from the military. Fort Hood officials did not immediately return calls to the Associated Press.