Man convicted for killing woman to prevent her from testifying against him
TACOMA, Wash. - A Pierce County jury has convicted a man for the 2018 murder of a missing woman. Investigators say he killed her to prevent her from testifying against him in a burglary and arson case.
On July 12, 59-year-old Michael Beauchamp was convicted for murdering 41-year-old Ginger Gover sometime in 2018.
Grover had been missing since July 29, 2018. She drove from her home in Olympia to visit friends in Tacoma and then Eatonville. She got a flat tire and a friend met her to fix it. She was last seen driving toward Eatonville, but never arrived.
Her remains were found on Sept. 14 at a construction site in South Hill. The remains were discovered by construction workers as they were putting in a new roadway at the site.
An autopsy determined that she died of a single gunshot wound.
Ginger Gover
Beauchamp had been in custody since October 2018 when he was arrested in Thurston County for burglary and arson.
According to investigators, he had committed a burglary and arson earlier that year and killed Gover to prevent her from testifying against him in that case.
He was charged for her murder in June 2020 and found guilty this week. A jury convicted him of first-degree aggravated murder, second-degree murder, first-degree assault and second-degree malicious mischief.
Beauchamp has a lengthy felony record dating back to the 80s. According to a report from Washington Access To Criminal History (WATCH), he has been convicted for multiple rapes, hit-and-run injury, possession of a stolen vehicle and theft of a motor vehicle.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 18.
Parents heartbroken after remains of daughter found in South Hill; death treated as homicide
The Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office has identified the remains discovered last week in South Hill as 41-year-old Ginger Gover, who has been missing since July 29.