I will always remember the story of how this guy killed his wife. I am guessing he did this pretty much because they grew apart in their marriage. I do not comprehend this however.
And the fact that he seemed proud of the "compost" thing he built in his yard, which of course was her grave.

Yeah, I actually wish Joe Owens had been captured alive just so we could have learned the motive for his crime. There's no doubt he was a terrible husband, but I've always wondered what could cause a 70-year old man with no prior criminal history to suddenly snap and kill his wife after 39 years of marriage. It sounded like they'd already been miserable together for a long time, so what was his breaking point?

I mean, it would be one thing if if he killed her accidentally after hitting her or something and then covered it up, but the fact that he shot her to death in her bed suggests premeditated murder. This is one of those solved UM cases where you know the "how", but you still want to know the "why".

Maybe it was some type of dementia that finally hit him. I know from personal experience (my grandpa had Alzheimers) at any moment he'd snap and we'd have to get away from him b/c he would be violent. (Such as war flashbacks). Then the next minute he was calm.Maybe this might have happened in Joe Owens case? Hard to say really since his nephew mentioned that his wife was always trying to make their marriage work but he wasnt trying.

Maybe it was some type of dementia that finally hit him. I know from personal experience (my grandpa had Alzheimers) at any moment he'd snap and we'd have to get away from him b/c he would be violent. (Such as war flashbacks). Then the next minute he was calm.Maybe this might have happened in Joe Owens case? Hard to say really since his nephew mentioned that his wife was always trying to make their marriage work but he wasnt trying.

Dementia is a good theory, but the problem is that Joe lived for another year after the murder and didn't seem to display any signs of erratic behaviour. Even though he made mistakes like changing stories about Gladys' whereabouts, most of his actions seemed to indicate he was of sound mind as he was pretty calculated about hiding her body and trying to cover for her absence.