Neighbors on Friday night described Betty and Donald Rowland as a loving couple who had been a fixture in their south Columbia neighborhood for the 25-plus years they lived there, leading to confusion, disbelief and speculation about why he allegedly stabbed his wife to death and then injured himself.

Police were dispatched to 3624 Woodrail Terrace, a well-maintained street full of condominiums adjacent to the County Club of Missouri. One of the Rowlands� daughters went to check on her parents and found her mother unresponsive and her father injured.

When emergency crews arrived, they found them in bed together, with Betty Rowland dead from stab wounds to the chest and Donald Rowland with self-inflicted stab wounds, according to a probable cause statement. Columbia police Officer Latisha Stroer said officers were dispatched to the home for a report of a gunshot victim, but police found no evidence of a gun in the house.

Paramedics pronounced Betty Rowland, 86, dead at the scene and took Donald Rowland, 88, to University Hospital, where he was listed in fair condition Friday night.

Boone County Prosecutor Dan Knight charged Donald Rowland with first-degree murder and armed criminal action. Donald Rowland told police, according to a probable cause statement, that he took his wife�s life and then made an attempt at his own because he didn�t want them to be a burden on their family.

Ruth Welliver, who lives in the condo next door to the Rowlands� home, said she has known them for 25 years. Betty, �Betts,� as friends called her, was in ill health lately, said the 97-year-old Welliver. Betty Rowland recently had a stroke, and one of her hands was partially paralyzed but had been getting better, Welliver said. She also had broken her hip and used a wheelchair to get around.

�I can�t believe he would knife her and then himself,� Welliver said. �I think he thought they would both go.�

Several neighbors expressed shock and said they had heard of what happened Friday but didn�t know the Rowlands very well. Marc Anderson said he�d seen them around a lot but didn�t know them well. The Rowlands would take frequent walks around the neighborhood, he said, until Betty Rowland had the stroke.

Donald Rowland was a bank president and retired Army officer. He and his wife frequently would go to brunch on Sundays at the country club and usually were seen at the annual neighborhood Christmas party.

Polly Reed, who said she has known the Rowlands for nearly the entire 30 years she has lived on Woodrail Terrace, said Betty Rowland was a beautiful dresser and an excellent bridge player. She was saddened by Betty Rowland�s death and shocked that her husband was charged with murder.

�They�re just awfully nice people,� Reed said.

Despite the grim nature of Donald Rowland�s alleged offenses, many neighbors expressed sympathy for him.

�They were a lovely couple. I was very fond of both of them,� Welliver said. �It�s shocking.�

This story was originally published online on Friday, October 31 at 2:11 p.m.