Jackson man sentenced to 25 years in prison for bow-and-arrow assault on ex-wife

A man convicted of shooting his ex-wife with an arrow following a lengthy argument that began over a cold hotel room will serve 25 years in state prison.

Merriel E. Housman Jr., 58, of Jackson, was sentenced to 20 years for first-degree assault and five years for felony domestic assault, with the sentences to be served consecutively, by Circuit Judge William Syler. Housman was convicted in April following a jury trial for the Sept. 1, 2008, attack on Betty A. Housman. At trial, Housman claimed he had shot his wife because he thought she was trying to harm his son with a gun.

Betty Housman was hospitalized for nine days after the attack, Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle said in a news release.

"Testimony at trial indicated that after Merriel E. Housman Jr. shot her, he pulled the arrow from her back and washed it off, rather than helping her cope with the profuse bleeding," Swingle said. "Deputies reported that Housman was smiling when they arrived."

The Housmans began arguing while returning from a reunion in Alton, Ill., according to a sworn statement filed with the original charges. Betty Housman thought their hotel room was too cold and Merriel Housman threatened to shoot her with the bow and arrow.

On arriving home, the argument continued and Betty Housman testified that her ex-husband choked her and struck her with a cordless phone. When she retrieved a .22-caliber handgun to protect herself, she struggled with her son and it went off twice.

Merriel Housman then shot her with the arrow. Officers found Betty Housman lying on the floor in a pool of blood.

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

100 Court St., Jackson, Mo.