Murder Charges Filed Against Cathedral City Man In Death Of Roommate

CATHEDRAL CITY, CA --- Murder and elder abuse charges were filed today against a Cathedral City man who allegedly killed his roommate, whose body was found in the backyard of their home.

Scott Edmund Pettigrew, 50, was scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon on the two felony charges, along with a sentence-enhancing allegation of elder abuse causing death.

Pettigrew was arrested Wednesday morning and booked at the Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility in Banning, where he was being held in lieu of $1 million bail.

Family members of 66-year-old Anita Mimie Cowen called police late Tuesday night after speaking with her on the phone and "hearing a verbal and physical disturbance in the background," according to Cathedral City police Lt. Glen Haas.

Officers were dispatched at 11:39 p.m. Tuesday to the home in the 69000 block of Heritage Court, where they found Cowen unresponsive in the backyard. Paramedics were unable to revive Cowen, who was pronounced dead at 12:17 Wednesday morning, Haas said.

The cause of her death was not released.

Pettigrew does not have any felony convictions in Riverside County, but does have a pending public intoxication case resulting from a January arrest in Palm Springs, according to court records.

• Also see: Murder Charges Filed In Fatal Beating Of Temecula Woman, 54, In Drugstore Checkout Line

--City News Service