Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.
Dateline NBC takes a look into Texas realtor Crystal McDowell’s murder by ex-husband Steven McDowell. The upcoming episode, titled “Before the Storm,” will air on the network this Sunday, May 5, 2024, at 10 p.m. ET. A synopsis reads, “A Texas mother of two vanishes as Hurricane Harvey barrels down on the Houston area. As Dennis Murphy reports, Crystal McDowell was not a victim of the storm, but something far more sinister.”
According to NBC News, Crystal McDowell, a mother of two, went missing shortly before Hurricane Harvey hit Texas in 2017. On the morning of August 25, Crystal left her boyfriend Paul Hargrave’s home to pick up her kids from her ex-husband Steven McDowell’s home. She and Steven had finalized their divorce in June of that year. However, the ex-husband claimed she never arrived at his place, and her family soon reported her missing after failing to contact her.
While searching for Crystal, her abandoned car was found in a flooded motel parking lot with no sign of her. Authorities soon became suspicious of her ex-husband, Steven, according to Oxygen. They also learned that he had threatened to commit a murder-suicide not long before Crystal’s disappearance. The following events resulted in a shocking discovery and Steven’s eventual conviction.
How was Crystal McDowell’s murder case solved?
Sources reported that investigators solved Crystal McDowell’s murder case after her ex-husband Steven McDowell’s confession. According to Oxygen, Steven first became a person of interest in the case after Crystal’s car was found in a flooded Motel 6 parking lot on August 28. At the time of her disappearance, she had been living with her ex-husband because her house was under renovation.
Security camera footage from a nearby gas station captured Steven on August 26, one day after the mother-of-two disappearance. They found video evidence that someone parked the car in the motel parking lot earlier that same day. Per CBS News, the individual who parked the vehicle matched the ex-husband’s description. Sheriff Brian Hawthorne told the outlet, “You just see somebody park the car. …And someone that resembles her ex-husband getting out of it.”
After discovering the video evidence, authorities confronted Steven McDowell. However, he insisted that he had nothing to do with Crystal McDowell’s disappearance. They also found evidence that the former couple’s relationship had soured over the years. Reportedly, Cyrstal had filed for divorce in 2008 after a year into their marriage, but she didn’t go through with it after Steven threatened to kill himself.
CBS stated that Crytal filed for divorce again in February 2017 and finally left him in June of that year. However, shortly after that, Steven disappeared with the kids and threatened to commit a murder-suicide. Sheriff Hawthorne claimed that he “put out an allegation and a threat that you know he would harm himself and Crystal and the kids.” He later returned with the kids unharmed.
D.A. Cheryl Lieck alleged that Steven “didn’t want the divorce” and that “he was distraught,” reported CBS. Lieck claimed that Crystal left him distraught “every time she tried to leave him.” Steven’s elder daughter, Krysta McDowell, claimed her father was still in love with Crystal.
The outlet stated that two weeks after Crystal McDowell’s disappearance, authorities began solely investigating Steven McDowell. They later found security footage from a nearby Walmart that captured Steven buying a bicycle. This video footage proved that he rode the bicycle back home after abandoning Crystal’s car in the motel parking lot.
Authorities, who were actively piling up evidence against Steven, knew a confession was the only way to catch him. Then, on September 9, when he confessed to killing Crystal on August 25. In his confession, Steven admitted to strangling the 37-year-old from behind. He described the events to authorities in detail and claimed he disposed of her body the following morning.
After confessing, Steven led authorities to a wooded area close to his house, where they discovered Crystal’s body. They then charged the suspect with murder, and a trial in June 2019 ended in his conviction. A jury deliberated for more than three hours before finding him guilty and then sentenced him to 50 years in prison.
Dateline NBC’s episode on Crystal McDowell’s murder case airs on Sunday, May 5.
