Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.
Dateline NBC‘s upcoming episode, “Before the Storm,” chronicles the case against Crystal McDowell’s killer, Steven McDowell. Crystal was a Texas realtor and a mother-of-two who disappeared before Hurricane Harvey. Eventually, the confession from her ex-husband, Steven, helped authorities solve the case.
The episode premieres on Sunday, May 5, 2024, at 10 p.m. ET. According to Dateline, an official 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.”
NBC News reported that Crystal left her boyfriend’s house early on August 25, 2017. She had planned to pick up the children from her ex-husband Steven McDowell’s house. However, the 37-year-old’s family reported her missing the following day, per CBS. During a search for the missing mother, authorities found crucial surveillance footage that linked Steven to her disappearance. He later confessed to the murder and led police to the victim’s body.
According to ABC13, Crystal McDowell’s confessed killer, Steven McDowell, faced murder charges and stood trial in June 2019. A jury convicted him of the crime and sentenced him to 50 years in prison. Per the Texas Department of Corrections, Steven is serving his sentence in Tennessee Colony’s H. H. Coffield Unit.
What did Crystal McDowell’s killer, Steven McDowell, confess about her murder?
Two weeks after Crystal McDowell’s disappearance, her ex-husband and killer, Steven McDowell, confessed to the crime. CBS noted that Sheriff Brian Hawthorne told 48 Hours that the confession had come on September 9, 2017. Sheriff Hawthorne and D.A. Cheryl Lieck stated that Steven described in detail the morning when he murdered the Texas realtor.
In his confession, Steven revealed that he and Crystal, who had stayed the night with her boyfriend Paul Hargrave, got into an argument. Hargrave had previously informed authorities that the mother-of-two left his house on the morning of August 25 to pick up her children from the ex-husband’s house. That was the last time he ever saw her. Moreover, surveillance captured the 37-year-old getting into her vehicle and leaving his house. Steven had earlier alleged that she never arrived at his house that morning.
Per the outlet Crystal McDowell’s killer Steven McDowell said in his confession, “I didn’t mean to hurt her. I love her. I would do anything in my life to bring her back.” He then went on to demonstrate the murder. Steven acted out how he strangled Crystal from behind when she had no idea of the incoming attack on her.
Steven admitted that he “squeezed her.” Then, demonstrating the incident, he said, “I put my arm around her like this.” Crystal’s killer said he knew the mother-of-two was dead when “she stopped moving.” After the murder, he confessed to having “covered her face with a bag,” then “tied her up and put her in trash bags and put her in the car.” The next morning, he disposed of the body.
After confessing the crime, Steven McDowell led investigators to a wooded area near his house. There, after an exhaustive search, they found Crystal McDowell’s body on September 9, more than two weeks after the murder. They soon arrested and charged Steven with murder. Investigators believed they never would have found the victim’s body if the killer hadn’t confessed and led them there.
Detectives had previously linked Steven to Crystal’s disappearance using surveillance footage. After the discovery of her abandoned vehicle in a Motel 6 parking lot on August 28, they used security camera footage from a nearby business to find a potential suspect. However, it was the confession that helped them solidify their case against the ex-husband.
Steven McDowell stood trial in June 2019 when he claimed it was a crime of sudden passion. Steven testified in court that a spontaneous hug between him and the victim turned fatal. However, the prosecutors argued that the killing was premeditated because he was still in love with her and was unhappy about the divorce. They alleged the defendant was also upset that the victim was seeing another man, reported CBS via interviews with family members.
Detectives had uncovered evidence throughout the investigation that suggested the former couple’s marriage was troubled. Moreover, Steven was unhappy after their divorce and had even threatened to commit a murder-suicide. Crystal had first filed for divorce in 2008, one year after their marriage. She filed again in February 2017, and their divorce was finalized in June of that year. At the time of the murder, she was living with Steven because her own house was under renovation, per Oxygen.
A jury found Steven guilty of murder, following which he received a 50-year prison sentence. Crystal McDowell’s killer is serving his sentence in Tennessee Colony’s H. H. Coffield Unit. According to prison records, he will become eligible for parole on September 10, 2042, and his projected release date is September 10, 2067.
Dateline NBC‘s episode on Crystal McDowell’s murder case airs on Sunday, May 5.