Jury convicts man in murder of ex- girlfriend
A jury convicted a Columbus man Monday on five of six charges in the death of a woman whose body was found stuffed in a partially submerged recycling bin more than a year ago.
Andrew McGowan, 30, was found guilty of aggravated murder, murder, abuse of a corpse, kidnapping and tampering with evidence. He was acquitted on a third murder count.
McGowan offered little audible reaction as the verdicts were announced in Franklin County Common Pleas Court, but he loudly proclaimed his innocence as jurors left the courtroom and he was escorted from the room before the proceedings adjourned.
The verdicts were reached more than four hours after the jury received instructions from Judge Jenifer French and began deliberations. He faces life in prison at sentencing, scheduled for April 13.
McGowan was charged with the murder of 22-year-old Gabriel Ann Hinojosa, whose body was discovered by kayakers in late February 2017 in Big Darby Creek in Pleasant Township. Holes were drilled into the recycling container, and a car battery was placed inside to weigh it down in the water.
An autopsy by a pathologist from the county coroner’s office ruled Hinojosa’s death was a homicide, but did not include a determination of the way she was killed.
McGowan and the victim, both of Columbus’ Hilltop neighborhood, had a child together, and McGowan threatened the woman if she attempted to get full custody of the child, prosecutors said in court filings.
McGowan was arrested about a month after the body was found, based on information provided to law enforcement by a confidential informant.
During a jury trial that lasted about two weeks, prosecutors noted that blue plastic shavings, some McGowan spiral-shaped and consistent with the holes drilled in the recycling bin holding Hinojosa’s body, were found at a Franklinton auto-repair garage coowned by McGowan, as well as in the back of a van parked at the location.
“There was nothing else in that garage that was blue and had holes in it,” said Assistant Prosecutor Kara Keating.
The floor of the unkempt garage had been recently washed with bleach. Prosecutors also used social media postings, text messages, cellphone location data and other evidence they said proved McGowan committed the crime.
But defense attorneys countered that the facts didn’t prove McGowan committed murder. Instead, they argued that the victim had a history of drug abuse, and a toxicology expert noted that Hinojosa had multiple drugs in her system at the time of her death, including enough fentanyl to kill her.
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The American Red Cross has an ongoing need for donors of all blood types, especially type O negative. Donors can call 1-800-REDCROSS (1-800-733-2767) or go to redcrossblood.org to schedule an appointment. Walk-in donors also are welcome. Blood drives are open today at:
Carriage Place Blood Donation Center, 4820 Sawmill Road, 12:15-7:30 p.m. First Community Church, 1320 Cambridge Blvd., 1-7 p.m. Mettler Toledo, 1900 Polaris Parkway, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Mount Carmel Lewis Center, 7100 Graphics Way, Lewis Center, 8 a.m.-1 p.m. North Broadway United Methodist, 48 E. North Broadway, 2-7 p.m. Northwest Library, 2280 Hard Road, 1-6 p.m. Polaris Blood Donation Center, 1327 Cameron Ave., Lewis Center, 12:15-7:15 p.m. Stone Ridge Blood Donation Center, 337 Stoneridge Lane, Gahanna, 12:15-7:30 p.m.