(NewsNation) — A Minnesota man was sentenced to life in prison Monday for shooting and killing his wife, Samantha Columbus-Boshey, in a hotel room.
A jury found 36-year-old Ryan Charles Rooney guilty of first-degree murder following a trial in November. According to a Hennepin County judge’s order, Rooney could be eligible for release after 30 years and will receive credit for his two years in jail awaiting trial.
Neither the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office nor Rooney’s defense attorney immediately responded to NewsNation’s requests for comment.
Local police arrested Rooney on Nov. 2, 2021.
He and Columbus-Boshey had been staying at the hotel for about three weeks and were supposed to have checked out Oct. 31. After deactivating the couple’s key cards and making multiple unsuccessful attempts to check the room, housekeeping used tools to break the door’s security latch and enter the room, court records show.
Inside, they found a small child in a urine-soiled crib and a man, whom employees couldn’t wake, in the fetal position on the bed of the “extremely cluttered” room, according to the criminal complaint.
Officers with the Eden Prairie Police Department later arrived to perform a well-being check and were met by an injured man, identified as Rooney, and a second small child.
Law and Crime reported the two children were unharmed.
Investigators discovered Columbus-Boshey’s body in the upstairs area of the room, with a gunshot wound to her chest, court records show. An autopsy determined she had been “deceased for some time.”
After securing a warrant to search the room, officers discovered a “tray of methamphetamine” on the toilet, easily accessible to a child, and a 9 mm Ruger handgun on the second-story floor.
Rooney went on to tell police that day that he and Columbus-Boshey were the only people in the hotel room, adding, “I don’t know why I shot (the victim),” according to the complaint.
Rooney’s attorney argued the man wasn’t fit to stand trial, but Rooney was ultimately ruled competent.
The case wasn’t Rooney’s first encounter with the law. He has prior convictions in Hennepin County for charges including domestic assault, violating an order of protection, fifth-degree assault, felony terroristic threats and violation of a domestic abuse no-contact order, according to court documents.
An anonymous caller dialing from the victim’s cellphone also contacted police less than a month before the shooting, according to the complaint. The caller reported a man matching Rooney’s description was outside waving a gun in the parking lot of the same hotel.
It’s unclear what happened as a result of the call or how Rooney obtained a firearm.
“Today’s guilty verdicts hold Mr. Rooney accountable for this senseless and devastating murder,” Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty said in an official statement. “My thoughts are with those affected by Mr. Rooney’s actions, especially the two young children exposed to this horrific event at such an early age.”
Anyone experiencing domestic violence can contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233. The hotline operates 24/7 in more than 200 languages including English, and Spanish.
