“Where the Crawdads Sing” author Delia Owens is reportedly wanted for questioning in connection with a 1995 murder that transpired in the African country of Zambia.
The country’s chief prosecutor, Lillian Shawa-Siyuni, confirmed to The Atlantic that they are also looking for the writer’s ex-husband, Mark Owens, and his son, Christopher Owens, in regards to the deadly shooting of an alleged poacher, who remains unidentified decades later.
Zambian officials have said they believe Mark and scouts put the body in a cargo net, attached it to a helicopter, and dumped it in a lagoon.
The family had spent the 80s and 90s in Africa for anti-poaching efforts. More than a decade earlier, Delia told The Atlantic that they had no involvement in the man’s death. She claimed the only thing her ex-husband did was throw firecrackers from a plane in an attempt to startle poachers.
According to The Atlantic, police may be questioned as a potential witness, co-conspirator, and accessory. Authorities also criticized ABC, which publicized footage of the poacher’s shooting death in a 1996 documentary titled “Deadly Game: The Mark and Delia Owens Story.”
A lead detective told the publication, “The ABC News show is an accessory to murder, either after the fact or during the committing of this murder. The cameraman and reporter are accomplices to this. The docket is still open on this case. Why won’t the cameraman come in and tell us what he saw and show us his film?”
The ABC cameraperson who filmed the deadly incident, Chris Everson, said Christopher Owens fired the deadly shot, not a Zambian game scout. He also explained that he never reported it to authorities as it “was way above my pay scale” and not his job to do so.
According to Marie Claire, Mark and Delia left the country and moved to Idaho after the footage was publicized. They continue to deny involvement in the deadly 1995 shooting.
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