Angela Prichard, a 55-year-old White female, was killed on the morning of October 8, 2022, at Mississippi Ridge Boarding Kennels, the animal-boarding business she operated along U.S. Highway 52 near Bellevue, Iowa. She arrived at the kennel shortly after 7:30 a.m. and, within minutes, encountered her estranged husband, Christopher Eugene Prichard. At approximately 7:39 a.m., Angela called 911 and pleaded with someone to leave, explaining that customers would soon be arriving. She then shouted, "Chris," immediately before the sound of a gunshot was captured on the call. A male voice could be faintly heard afterward while dogs barked in the background.
Jackson County deputies responding to the emergency call found Angela lying face down in an employee washroom inside the kennel building. She had suffered a close-range shotgun wound to the center of her chest and died almost immediately. Investigators determined that the weapon was a single-shot, 20-gauge shotgun that required several deliberate actions to fire, including loading the shell, cocking the hammer and pulling the trigger. The circumstances surrounding the weapon became important because Christopher later claimed that the gun had discharged during a confrontation, but prosecutors maintained that the physical evidence and his preparations showed the shooting was intentional.
Angela had been increasingly afraid of Christopher during the months before her death. Their marriage had deteriorated, and she moved into her sister Wendy Budde's home in late August 2022 because she feared what he might do. A temporary no-contact order was issued on September 2. In handwritten notes, Angela described feeling unsafe at her house, her sister's home, her son's residence and even while shopping in town. She wrote that Christopher had threatened and harassed her, had firearms stored throughout the house and was capable of anything. Evidence later presented in court showed that he continued stalking her, monitoring her movements and violating court restrictions intended to keep him away.
On October 7, the day before the murder, Christopher left his truck inside a pole barn belonging to acquaintances Michael and Lori Blaser. He placed a note on the vehicle claiming he had gone to hunt coyotes, but investigators found signs that he had used a bed and toilet in a horse trailer stored inside the barn. Prosecutors argued that the note and abandoned truck were part of an effort to create an alibi. Christopher took a shotgun from an unoccupied hunting cabin, hid near the kennel and entered the business hours before Angela arrived. Surveillance evidence included the sound of dogs barking when he entered, helping investigators establish that he had been waiting inside.
After shooting Angela, Christopher took her purse and escaped on foot into nearby woods. Officers from several agencies searched for him throughout the day, and authorities publicly identified him as a person of interest while warning residents not to approach him. At about 8:30 that evening, he reached the home of his friend Jeffrey Junk. Christopher was wet, scratched and carrying the shotgun. He admitted that he had shot Angela, although he initially claimed he had struck her in the arm. He showed little surprise when told she might be dead and said that, if she was, he would be going to prison for a long time. After Christopher fell asleep in a recliner, Junk contacted law enforcement, and officers arrested him during the early hours of October 9.
Christopher gave investigators shifting explanations. In one account, he said he had gone to the kennel to repair his relationship with Angela and that the weapon discharged after she shoved him. He also claimed she remained alive long enough to order him to leave. In another interview, he admitted that he went there intending to steal money because he believed Angela was trying to ruin him. He acknowledged taking her purse and admitted that the shotgun in his possession was the weapon used in the shooting. Investigators also confirmed that the firearm had been stolen from a nearby hunting cabin.
Authorities initially held Christopher on warrants related to violations of the protective order. On October 13, 2022, he was formally charged with first-degree murder. Prosecutors later added first-degree robbery because he had taken Angela's purse after killing her. During the four-day trial, the prosecution presented Angela's final 911 call, surveillance evidence, her writings describing her fear, testimony concerning Christopher's stalking behavior, proof that he had hidden near the kennel and evidence of his flight and admissions. The defense challenged some of the testimony about Angela's fear and the no-contact order, but the court allowed much of it as evidence of Christopher's motive, intent and the deteriorating relationship.
A jury convicted Christopher Prichard of first-degree murder and first-degree robbery in February 2024. He was sentenced the following month to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder, along with a concurrent 25-year sentence for the robbery. Christopher appealed, arguing that the trial court should not have admitted evidence concerning Angela's fear of him and the temporary protective order. On May 7, 2025, the Iowa Court of Appeals upheld the convictions, finding that the evidence against him was overwhelming and that any possible error in admitting the disputed testimony would not have changed the verdict.
