No bond for Powder Springs man held in wife's death

By Mike Morris

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A Cobb County man charged with killing his wife then setting the couple's Powder Springs home on fire was denied bond Wednesday.

Cobb County Sheriff's Office Michael Thomas Rowe, 51,charged with killing his wife, Kathy Ragsdale Rowe, and setting their house on fire in Powder Springs.

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John Spink, jspink@ajc.com One person died early Monday morning in a house fire on Ponderosa Lane off Powder Springs Road in Powder Springs.

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Lt. Denell Boyd lifts up fire scene tape to allow neighbors to pass. Firefighters arrived shortly after 3 a.m. at the house on Ponderosa Lane and found it engulfed in flames.

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During a brief first appearance hearing at the Cobb County Jail, Michael Thomas Rowe's case was bound over to Superior Court for a preliminary hearing next month. Rowe said little during the hearing, only telling the judge that he didn't yet have an attorney and asking  if he could use the jail phone to call a lawyer.

Rowe, 51, was arrested Tuesday afternoon, Powder Springs police said. Rowe's arrest came one day after the body of 55-year-old Kathy Ragsdale Rowe was found following a predawn blaze Monday.

Cobb County fire Lt. Denell Boyd told the AJC that the fire call came in at 3:05 a.m. Monday, and when firefighters arrived five minutes later, they found the brick ranch house, in the 3500 block of Ponderosa Lane off Powder Springs Road, fully involved in flames.

Later Monday, investigators searched for Michael Rowe, who was located just before 2:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Walmart store on the East-West Connector near Powder Springs, Officer Kathryn Raines said.

Raines said Rowe was spotted by officers in the parking lot, in the 1995 Ford Taurus that police had issued a lookout for on Monday.

Raines said that Rowe put up no resistance, and was answering questions from detectives investigating the death of his wife. At 3 p.m. Tuesday, Michael Rowe was arrested at the Powder Springs police headquarters, according to jail records.

In addition to murder and arson charges, Michael Rowe has been charged with aggravated assault. He was booked into the Cobb County jail, where he was being held without bond, Raines said.

Investigators have not yet released the cause of death.

Staff writer Alexis Stevens contributed to this article.