Ryan Charles Rooney: Man who fatally shot wife before attempting to kill himself gets life in prison

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: Ryan Charles Rooney, convicted of murdering his wife, Samantha Rose Columbus Boshey, in 2021, was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 30 years by District Court Judge Daniel C Moreno on Monday, December 4, according to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office.

Rooney was found guilty by a 12-person jury on November 2, 2021, of one count of first-degree murder and domestic abuse following a trial that lasted over two weeks.

Ryan Charles Rooney killed his wife Samantha Rose Columbus Boshey in a hotel room

Officers in Eden Prarie, Minnesota, responded to a request for a welfare check at the Residence Inn Hotel in the 7700 block of Flying Cloud Drive on November 2, 2021, at around 10.57 am, where Rooney and Samantha had been residing for about 20 days with their two children, aged one and two. 

Hotel employees discovered Rooney in the fetal position on his bed and called the police when they were unable to wake him up.

Per KARE, when officers arrived, they allegedly announced themselves multiple times before Rooney walked down the stairs from the room's second level with a child walking with him.

Upon entering the room, officers described it as exceedingly messy and reeked of urine. Rooney had "a gunshot wound under his chin and an exit wound to the top of his head," and was allegedly carrying a gun holster and two bags of methamphetamine.

When cops questioned him about where the missing handgun was, he said that it was upstairs.

Police stated that they discovered a woman on the second floor of the room, between the foot of the bed and the wall, and found a second small child in a heavily soiled crib on the main level.

The woman was later identified as Rooney's 29-year-old spouse, Samantha.

"(Boshey) had a gunshot wound to the center of her chest, and an exit wound to her back," revealed an affidavit, which added, "Victim was cold to the touch and her joints felt stiff."

Authorities discovered a 9 mm handgun next to her body, as well as a tray of methamphetamine on the toilet, which was clearly accessible to a child.

The couple had just been married two months ago, on August 30, 2021.

Police were called to the hotel less than two weeks before the fatal shooting after they had received complaints that Rooney was flashing a gun in the parking lot.

"The anonymous caller used (Boshey’s) cellphone number to call the police," noted the affidavit. 

"In a post-Miranda statement on November 4, 2021, (Rooney) agreed that he and (Boshey) were the only people inside the hotel room," as per the police, who also said, "Defendant also stated, ‘I don’t know why I shot (victim)'."

Samantha Rose Columbus Boshey's family testified in court during Ryan Charles Rooney's sentencing

Samantha's relatives testified in court on Monday about her love for her children and extended family, as well as her ability to light up a room with her beaming smile.

Her father, Charles Boshey, said, "It pains me and kills me inside knowing I will never see her smile light up a room, watch her raise her kids, live her best life, and help her when she would fall like all fathers have a chance to do."

He added, "A big piece of me died that day she died. I will never be whole again because of what happened to my baby girl," holding back his tears.

Virginia Sagataw, her aunt, spoke angrily, addressing Rooney personally before she was redirected by the judge, and stated, "Even though I am a Christian, I have yet to forgive him for this unspeakable act he committed upon my unarmed, helpless niece." 

When Judge Daniel C Moreno asked Rooney if he wanted to speak before being sentenced to life in prison, he made no comments.