NASSAU COUNTY, FLORIDA, Fla. — A stand-up Marine and husband changed by war and drugs is how witness testimony Friday described the killer of a Nassau County sheriff's deputy.
Patrick McDowell faces the death penalty for the murder of Deputy Joshua Moyers in 2021. Friday wraps up the first week of the penalty phase of his trial. Witnesses called to testify included McDowell’s ex-wife and teenage son as well as a number of Marines he served with.
McDowell’s ex-wife, Shauna McDowell, had to take a brief break during her testimony after glancing at her ex-husband during a question about her pregnancy years ago and becoming emotional. Shauna McDowell described happier times when the young couple married and had a son.
"I had a hard pregnancy,” she testified. “I was really sick and he let me sleep while he drove and he nudged me and woke me up and he said, ‘Babe, wake up, wake up.’ And he’s like, ‘I just need you to talk to me because I'm seeing things.’”
"And were you worried about Patrick's mental health at that time?” McDowell’s defense attorney asked.
"Yes, ma'am," Shauna McDowell responded.
She described McDowell as upset by the injured Iraqi children he saw on his deployment and she recounted a phone call with an explosion in the background. Shauna McDowell says McDowell was changed when he came back.
Prosecutors asked Shauna McDowell about one of her last conversations with her ex-husband when she encouraged him to turn himself in in Georgia, where he faced charges, and to think of their son.|
“But he just persisted and he said he was not going back to jail,” said Prosecutor Mark Caliel.
“Yes, sir,” Shauna McDowell answered.
Multiple people McDowell knew in the Marines praised his character then during their testimonies.
“Patrick was by far, far and above one of the best operators I ever met in the Marine Corps,” said Brandon Westerman.
Westerman’s voice cracked as he told the court about their two fellow Marines who took their own lives.
McDowell's 13-year-old son also testified saying he enjoys speaking with his father multiple times a week and that their relationship is important to him.
Testimony from the defense’s witnesses is expected to continue next week.