Judge orders $1 million bond for Cedar Rapids man charged with murder

Petitions for protective orders reveal a history of stalking, physical abuse and harassment by Shawn Crowley who is accused of killing his wife Monday.

According to court documents, the victim Chantele Crowley, 39, asked the court for multiple protective orders since 2009. Some were ordered by the court and others were dismissed because the couple requested it before it went to trial.

The latest petition was filed in May when the couple lived at different addresses, which was a pattern over the years, but they were living together in the mobile home, 1808 Eastern Drive SW, Lot 41, Monday when police found Chantele Crowley's body during a welfare check. According to the criminal complaint, Shawn Crowley admitted to several witnesses that he killed his wife and turned himself into police Monday night.

According to a criminal complaint, it appeared Chantele Crowley had been strangled and a cellphone charging cord was found near the body. The autopsy is pending, which will determine cause and manner of death.

Shawn Crowley, 43, was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder and remains in the Linn County Jail on a $1 million cash or surety bond. He appeared from the jail wearing a padded vest, commonly worn by inmates on suicide watch.

In a petition filed in May, Chantele Crowley said her husband had threatened suicide, saying he had nothing left to lose. She had left him but he continued to follow and stalk her, and her roommate and friends.

She also claimed in the petition that he slashed her car tires May 9, and he continued to text and call her. In an 'attempt to control” her, he also threatened damage to the apartment he lived in, which was in her name.

In the petition, she states her husband assaulted her in the past, throwing a salad bowl at her, hitting her in the head and then pushing her by her throat into the television before throwing her to the ground. At other times, he threatened to send 'adult” photos of her to family and friends at different times.

Chantele's aunt, Mary Covert of Franklin Park, Ill., said during a phone interview Tuesday that Shawn Crowley had 'psychological” issues and she knew he hurt her niece over the years. She thought the couple were broken up until they showed up together at Chantele's grandfather's funeral, which was about two weeks ago.

Covert said the family tried to 'intervene on many, many occasions.”

According to the petition, she was afraid of Shawn Crowley's retribution and unsure of what he might do since she left him. In the past, when she left him, he would 'stalk” her and one time he placed an ad on Craigslist 'soliciting me for others to come find me and have sex with me.”

There was a Craigslist posting in the 'Rants and Raves” section May 11, by a 43-year-old man warning men about his 39-year-old wife, saying she cheated on him and other disparaging comments about her. He says he's 'tired” of her and is divorcing him. The post was pieced together by a Gazette reporter but it has since been taken down.

In the petition, Chantele also states she went back to her husband in the past to 'prevent his anger and diffuse” him 'since police couldn't help.”

Tara Beck, program director of domestic violence victims services at Waypoint in Cedar Rapids, said it's common for domestic violence victims to seek out protective orders and then drop them like Chantele Crowley. It could be for various complex factors. The victim may receive threats or the abuser makes the victim promises that he will change. Many times, an abuser may use positive styles of manipulation like buying gifts but the actions are an effort to keep control.

Stalking, which Chantele mentioned more than once, can be a warning sign of more escalating behavior to physical violence, Beck said.

'We see a lot of women who are fearful they (the abuser) will seriously assault them and kill them,” Beck said.

There have been 252 Iowans killed in domestic violence homicides since 1995, according to Iowa Attorney General's Office statistics as of March 20. Of those, 171 women were killed by partners, 30 men were killed by a partner and 52 bystanders were killed in domestic violence situations.

There have been 216 domestic violence cases filed in Linn County so far, this year, according to the Linn County Attorney's Office. There were 511 filed in 2012 and 446 filed last year.

Waypoint offers free and confidential services and the crisis line can be accessed 24 hours a day at 800-208-0388.

Gazette reporter Lee Hermiston contributed to this report.