Police tried to track down UW shooter

06:05 PM PDT on Tuesday, April 3, 2007

KING Staff and Associated Press

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SEATTLE – University of Washington police revealed Tuesday they tried in recent weeks to track down the man who ultimately shot and killed the ex-girlfriend he was stalking.

Rebecca Griego, a University of Washington researcher, was shot to death Monday in her office at Gould Hall by Jonathan Rowan. who then turned the gun on himself. The shooting ended months of stalking by Rowan. In the last weeks of her life, Griego had taken drastic steps to avoid Rowan's violence and threats that had left her visibly shaken.

UW police chief Vicky Stormo said that Griego wanted to pursue charges against Rowan. She took out a report on March 16th, in which she cited harassing phone calls from March 7th and March 14th. A UW detective and Seattle Police made several attempts to track down Rowan, to serve him with a protection order, but they were not able to find him.

KING

Rebecca Griego

"Mister Rowan has moved numerous times. He has multiple names and addresses, but we have been unable to locate him," said Stormo. Police say Rowan, a British citizen, came to the United States under a green card. They are working with Interpol to positively identify him.

Police believe Rowan stole the gun used in the shooting. The .357 revolver was last registered in 1995 to a private citizen.

Rowan also had an outstanding DUI warrant.

The couple had lived in a Ballard home until January, when Griego moved out after Rowan was accused of getting violent with her. She changed her cell phone number. And early last month, Griego sought a restraining order, posting Rowan's picture around her office so co-workers could serve him with the papers if he showed up.

Officials also said Rowan had called Griego at least twice at work with death threats, and friends said she had passed around photos of Rowan and warnings about his threatening behavior.

"I cannot find him but he can find me (knows my place of work)," Griego wrote in a restraining order petition filed March 6 in King County Superior Court.

Jonathan Rowan

Lance Nguyen, a researcher who worked with Griego at the Runstad Center for Real Estate Research, said she had become increasingly worried about her former boyfriend in recent weeks.

"She said it's a psycho from her past," Nguyen said.

"The close circle that surrounds her knew about this guy," said graduate student Adrianna Johnson. "We had a picture of him and we have judicial paperwork to serve him in case he appeared at the office, which means we were prepared to put him away in many ways, but we never expected something like this would happen.

Court records show Griego was granted a temporary restraining order on March 6, saying Rowan had threatened her, her sister and their dogs.

In applying for the order, she wrote that on January 5, Rowan "verbally abused me and then started throwing candlestick glass holders at me and then tackled me to the floor and punched me. I forgave him because he was drunk but now I see that was wrong and he has threatened to hurt me again."

Griego wrote that in February, Rowan called her and threatened suicide, "because he couldn't see me. I never called him back."

The order required Rowan to stay 500 feet from Griego, her residence, workplace and dog.

Police say protection paperwork is rarely a deterrent for those set on creating chaos in another person's life. "We can immediately arrest someone if they have a restraining order and they make their contact," said Wittmier. "But that doesn't provide physical protection of any sort."

Students and staff returned to Gould Hall, one day after the murder-suicide that took the 26-year-old's life.

"Rebecca was one of the most outgoing people", said A.J. Ghambari. He called Griego a mentor colleague and friend. "Smart and beautiful inside and out."

An e-mail sent by Rebecca Griego asking her co-workers to be on the watch for her ex-boyfriend.


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