Bowen could get life in prison for 2014 murder

UPDATE @ 6:59 p.m.: Frank Bowen showed no reaction as the trial judge read the guilty verdicts, which were returned about 4 p.m.

Bowen was convicted of murder as well as felony abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence. He could be sent to prison for life when he is sentenced Feb. 29.

“I am pleased with the verdict. The jurors came to a just conclusion and I am real happy for the family,” said county Prosecutor Tony Kendell, who tried the case with Janna Parker, an assistant prosecutor.

Kendell couldn’t comment much on the difference between the first and second trial but did note the foreman of the first jury told him one juror “required a videotape of the actual murder” before finding anyone guilty. The stance would be inconsistent with the required burden of proof.

“When I heard that, I was confident in the evidence and the way it was put together by law enforcement. I decided we weren’t going to stop there,” Kendell said of retrying the case.

Steve King, who represented Bowen along with fellow county public defender Steve Layman, said he, too, thought the case was tried well.

“It was a clean case and we are certainly hoping for a just sentence, which I am sure Judge [Christopher] Gee will do,” he said.

King said he would discuss with Layman any issues for appeal.

UPDATE @ 4:52 p.m. (Jan. 19)

A Miami County jury found Frank Bowen guilty of murder Tuesday after deliberating for less than five hours.

Bowen, 26, was charged with murder in the death of Joseph Graley III, 31, in 2014. He was also found guilty of tampering with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse.

Graley’s family declined comment after the verdict was read.

Miami County prosecutors said Tuesday that Bowen finally told the truth when he told those investigating Graley’s disappearance that he thought he was dead.

A few hours after that interview Oct. 23, 2014, Graley’s remains were found under a pile of sticks and debris behind his Scarff Road, Bethel Twp., home.

The jury hearing the case against Bowen of rural Tipp City, began deliberations around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday after hearing closing arguments in Common Pleas Court.

Graley was last seen Oct. 8, 2014. A coroner’s investigator testified he died of blunt force trauma to the head and neck.

Janna Parker, an assistant county prosecutor, referred to testimony of Major Steve Lord of the Miami County Sheriff’s Department, in her closing argument. Lord interviewed Bowen for three hours Oct. 23, 2014. Bowen had been living with Graley.

“In my heart of hearts I think Joe is dead,” Parker said repeating what Lord testified Bowen said.

“Finally, for the first time, the defendant told the truth, almost. He doesn’t think he is dead, he knows he is dead,” Parker said.

She and Prosecutor Tony Kendell outlined testimony and evidence they said with common sense proved Bowen’s guilt.

Steve Layman, a county public defender, also called on jurors to use their common sense in reviewing what they heard in testimony Jan. 13-15.

Layman said Bowen denied any involvement in Graley’s disappearance, and didn’t run or hide when he learned police had been notified Graley was missing. He asked jurors to look closely at how the investigation was handled and the statements of Graley family and friends about the time he was missing.

“It is not your job to solve a murder mystery. It is your job to determine if the state proved each and every element of the case,” Layman said.

Kendell wrapped up prosecutor’s closing arguments by showing a selfie photo of Graley and two friends in the weeks before he died and an autopsy photo showing bone fragments of his face, which had been shattered.

A jury last summer was unable to reach verdicts on the charges against Bowen of murder, tamping with evidence and gross abuse of a corpse. They found Bowen guilty of felony safecracking involving a safe in Graley’s home.

The second jury was seated Jan. 12 and heard testimony from prosecution witnesses before leaving for the holiday weekend. The defense did not present any witnesses in the trial being held before Judge Christopher Gee.

Witnesses testified that Bowen, who was unemployed with no place to stay, moved in with Graley four days before he went missing. They said Bowen gave various accounts of where Graley went and, as days passed, grew increasingly suspicious about Bowen.

Dr. Lee Lehman of the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office testified a time of death for Graley could not be determined, but said the remains indicated he had been deceased for an extended time. Lehman said Graley’s skull was fractured and almost every bone in his face shattered.

Graley suffered multiple blows to the head, he said.

A sledgehammer with Graley’s blood was found by investigators in the wooded area behind the Graley home. Lehman said injuries Graley sustained were consistent to the size of the sledgehammer.

Defense lawyers asked Lehman about toxicology findings. Lehman said Graley had various drugs in his system but none to a level that would contribute to death.

Hallie Garofolo, a forensic scientist in the Bureau of Criminal Investigation DNA unit, testified DNA of both Graley and Bowen was found on the sledgehammer handle.

Defense lawyers questioned her why DNA testing wasn’t done on the twigs and other debris found covering Graley’s remains. Garofolo said those items would have been exposed to the elements for possibly a couple of weeks, leaving little chance any touch DNA would be found on them.

Bowen, who is being held without bond, will be sentenced Feb. 29.

UPDATE @ 4:32 p.m.: (Jan. 19)

Bowen was found guilty on all three counts of murder, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence.

UPDATE @ 12:40 p.m. (Jan. 19)

The case of a Tipp City man accused of murder is now in the hands of the jury.

Tuesday morning, the jury heard closing arguments in the retrial of Frank Bowen.

This is for the 2014 beating death of Joseph Graley III inside Graley’s home. Bowen is charged with murder, abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence.

Last summer a jury found Bowen guilty of safe cracking but were unable to reach a verdict in the other three charges, leading to a mistrial.

UPDATE @ 6:47 p.m. (Jan. 12)

A Bethel Twp. man known for being a good friend opened his home to Frank Bowen only to end up dead days later, Miami County prosecutors said in their opening statements in the retrial of Bowen on a charge of murder and other felonies in the slaying of Joseph Graley III.

Bowen, 26, of Tipp City, is being tried for a second time in Common Pleas Court on three felony charges in the slaying of Graley, 31.

Graley’s remains were found Oct. 23, 2014, under a pile of boards and debris in the backyard of his home on Scarff Road, in southeast Miami County.

The jury, seated this afternoon, will visit the Graley home Wednesday morning before hearing testimony.

The jury in the first trial last summer found Bowen guilty of felony safe-cracking but could not reach agreement on the charges of murder, tampering with evidence and abuse of a corpse. Judge Christopher Gee declared a mistrial.

In her opening statement, county Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Janna Parker the told jury that Graley died when he was struck with a sledge hammer to the head and neck.

Parker said Bowen, a friend who had returned to the area from South Carolina, was living with Graley because he was broke, unemployed, homeless and had a young child to support.

“Joe opened up his home to him. Within a matter of days, he was dead,” Parker told the jury.

Parker said Graley was last seen alive Oct. 8, 2014, and his remains were found Oct. 23. Friends and family had repeatedly asked Bowen about Graley and were given differing stories, she said.

“In the two weeks Joe was missing … the only one who didn’t seem to show any concern” was Bowen, Parker said. She said the evidence will show that Bowen stayed in Graley’s house, used his car, played his video games and sold Graley’s drugs.

Defense lawyer Steve Layman, a county public defender, said police procedure in the case would be questioned. He said prosecutors had evidence potentially linking Bowen to a crime but couldn’t make critical connections needed to move him from suspect to murderer.

Layman asked the jury to look for when the murder took place and where and for explanations on how Bowen’s DNA got on the sledgehammer.

“You have to allow your common sense to look at the big picture,” Layman said. “When you consider the unknowns with the knowns, you will have considerable doubt.”

Opening statements are not evidence. They are a summary of what attorneys claim the evidence will reveal.

EARLIER REPORT

Jury selection started Tuesday in the murder case against Frank Bowen, 26, of Tipp City.

Bowen’s first trial, in August 2015, ended in a mistrial when a Miami County Common Pleas jury couldn’t reach a verdict on charges of murder, gross abuse of corpse and tampering with evidence, after 14 hours of deliberations.

The jury did convict him on a charge of safe cracking.

The case stems from a slaying in October 2014. Joseph Graley III of Bethel Twp. died of blunt force trauma to head and neck. The weapon used was reportedly a sledgehammer.