- 1 day ago
World's Most Evil Killers S06E06 Gary Ray Bowles
Category
🦄
CreativityTranscript
00:01In May 1994, the body of 72-year-old World War II veteran Milton Bradley
00:07was discovered on a golf course in Savannah, Georgia.
00:11He'd been savagely murdered by a mysterious stranger who'd vanished without a trace.
00:17At the time, nobody could tell me that they had a murder with similar circumstances
00:22or a suspect matching the mystery man or mystery person, the drifter,
00:27who showed up in Savannah, was last seen with Bradley and was now gone.
00:32The killer was Gary Ray Bowles, a 32-year-old transient with an apparent hatred of gay men.
00:40He would go on to claim two more victims after the murder of Milton Bradley.
00:46Anybody who came onto Bowles' radar, anybody who formed part of his life,
00:52who became a significant individual, was somebody who was in danger from him.
00:57Because here's somebody who has no respect for other people.
01:01He doesn't see other people's lives as valuable.
01:04After slaying more victims with impunity up and down the I-95 highway,
01:10Bowles was finally apprehended after killing Jacksonville Beach resident Jay Hinton
01:15by brutally caving in his skull with a cinder block.
01:19He targeted perfectly innocent, perfectly upright, perfectly reasonable men.
01:25He's ruthless, wicked, depraved and relentless.
01:31Gary Ray Bowles, the I-95 killer, had run out of road
01:36and been discovered as one of the world's most evil killers.
02:01In November 1994, 32-year-old Gary Ray Bowles confessed his vicious killing spree
02:09to detectives.
02:11Over the previous eight months, Bowles had taken the lives of six men across three states.
02:17Most of his murders had happened just off Interstate 95 on the east coast of the U.S.
02:26One of the investigators who helped to identify Bowles as a serial killer was rookie detective John Best.
02:35What are the chances?
02:36Your first murder, you're going to get a guy that kills six men up and down the east coast of
02:41the United States,
02:43becomes a ten most wanted fugitive, and then you get to interview him.
02:46And he gets put to death as a result of these crimes.
02:51And here we are 27 years later, and we're still talking about Gary Ray Bowles.
02:58So it stays in your head.
03:01Bowles was finally captured after the murder of Jay Hinton in Jacksonville, Veatch, Florida.
03:07Detective Joe Collins spent days speaking with the killer after a stunning confession
03:13in which Bowles admitted to killing all six of his victims.
03:18Initially, when you get close to somebody and you're talking, you have a rapport going,
03:26and you want to keep that going, you think, you know, this isn't a bad guy.
03:31You know, I guess he's screwed up a little bit or something.
03:33I don't know, but we were talking like two guys drinking a beer on the beach or something
03:39until I pulled out the photographs of my victim, and all that went away.
03:46Bowles left a trail of blood and destruction wherever he went.
03:52Every single crime scene was overkill.
03:55It's not like one shot, one stab wound.
03:57And I just think that that rage, and when you throw in some alcohol and drugs, that created a monster.
04:10This killer's story begins in Clifton Forge, Virginia.
04:15Gary Ray Bowles was born on the 25th of January, 1962.
04:20He was raised by his mother and a succession of different father figures in Rupert, West Virginia.
04:27Bowles never knew his real father because he died before Bowles was born.
04:32So this was something that had a significant impact on his life,
04:36as it does on many children in this situation.
04:40And there are lots of kids whose fathers die before they're born.
04:43This isn't a prescription for serial murder, but it's what his father was replaced with which is the issue in
04:50this case.
04:52Two of Bowles' stepfathers violently abused the youngster,
04:56while his mother reportedly refused to step in and help her son.
05:01These men were not ideal stepfathers by any stretch of the imagination.
05:06These were men who abused Bowles.
05:09He was somebody who never felt particularly safe or secure or childlike in his own home.
05:15Home was a dangerous place for him.
05:19At the age of 10 years old, he started to engage in substance abuse.
05:26At the time, he was sniffing glue, snorting whatever he can, like paint, to get high,
05:31just in this frantic effort to escape the pain that was inflicted upon him by his stepfather.
05:42As he matured into a teenager, Bowles finally snapped.
05:47And the boy, then only 13, really hit back at the abusive stepfather.
05:53In fact, he hit him with a rock very hard in an effort to stop him.
06:00He was fed up with the fact that his mother was being abused,
06:03his brother was being abused, and he was being abused,
06:05and he wanted to put a stop to him.
06:07I think this is something that is a very pivotal moment for him.
06:12He has been in this household where violence is normal, violence is every day,
06:16violence is a way of exerting your power and your control over others,
06:20and Bowles, at this point, has had enough.
06:23And I think he probably feels that he has won at this particular point.
06:27He has had some kind of victory over his abuser, and now he comes to equate violence with power.
06:35His stepfather survived the attack, but the incident led to Bowles leaving home while still in his early teens.
06:42Drifting up and down the country, he found a dubious way to make money.
06:48What Gary told me was he found it easy to save friends.
06:53He was hitchhiking a ride.
06:55One particular incident that he told me, the man gave him a ride and then offered him money for sex.
07:05On the one hand, he's found a solution to some of his problems,
07:09but on the other hand, I think this creates a whole new problem in itself,
07:13because in doing this, he's fueling feelings of shame and feelings of regret, essentially.
07:21And all violence is rooted in shame, so this is not a good combination.
07:27In 1982, the 20-year-old was arrested for a violent attack on his girlfriend,
07:33which left her physically scarred for life.
07:37He blamed alcohol. He blamed drug use.
07:40He only claimed to remember parts of the assault, but it was a horrible attack.
07:44To quote the detective in a probation or sentencing hearing,
07:48she said she had seen better-looking bodies in the morgue.
07:51Bowles served 18 months for the assault, but when he was released in 1983,
07:57the 21-year-old soon settled down with a new girlfriend.
08:02In fact, she gets pregnant by Bowles,
08:07and they seem to have what is the beginnings of maybe a family life.
08:14But then she makes a discovery.
08:17Bowles is still working as a male sex worker.
08:21He's still prostituting himself, and she can't stand that lifestyle.
08:26She rejects it utterly.
08:28She calls him a hustler.
08:30And she then aborts the child, their child.
08:35Bowles would later claim that this was the trigger
08:39that led him to target a specific type of victim.
08:42He did mention to me that, and I'll quote it, he said,
08:49they killed my baby.
08:51They, meaning homosexuals, killed his baby.
08:56According to Bowles, that put him in a vicious circle
08:58where he had to go out and hustle and meet these gay men and get their money,
09:03and he became enraged at the gay men for that.
09:08It was an anger that led to a succession of misdemeanors
09:12that would land Bowles in and out of prison for the next decade.
09:18In March 1994, Gary Ray Bowles was at the home of 59-year-old John Roberts
09:25in Daytona Beach, Florida.
09:27The circumstances surrounding their friendship are not known,
09:31but years later, the killer confessed that he and Roberts
09:35had got into an argument over a woman
09:38whom Bowles had been spending time with.
09:42Gary was on the phone,
09:44and John Roberts made a derogatory remark or said, you know,
09:49you don't need to be talking to that bitch, something very nasty,
09:54and it really upset Gary.
09:57So Gary said, uh, John Roberts was sitting on a couch.
10:03Gary picked up a lamp and bashed him over the head.
10:07Um, then I think, believe, he told me that he strangled him
10:10and he stuffed a rag or something in his mouth.
10:14Um, and then he fled the scene from there.
10:18In an apparent fit of rage,
10:2132-year-old Gary Ray Bowles had killed for the very first time.
10:27This is an important murder because Bowles didn't get caught for it,
10:30and I think he learns from this
10:32that actually murder is something that you can get away with.
10:36And I think that after this murder, he's reliving it,
10:40he's thinking about it,
10:42he's enjoying those feelings of power that it gave him,
10:45but it's not long before he wants to experience those feelings again.
10:50Gary Ray Bowles now had a taste for murder.
10:53John Roberts was the first,
10:55but he would not be the last victim on Bowles' chaotic killing spree.
11:00In just over nine weeks' time,
11:02another four men would be dead.
11:13In March 1994,
11:1632-year-old drifter Gary Ray Bowles
11:19had taken the life of another man in Daytona Beach, Florida.
11:24John Roberts had been bludgeoned
11:26and then strangled to death in his own home.
11:30Detectives searching for the killer
11:32had a major breakthrough early on.
11:36The Daytona Beach police found a piece of probation or parole paperwork
11:42that belonged to Gary Ray Bowles at the scene of the murder.
11:47But Gary Ray Bowles is no longer in Daytona Beach.
11:50He's gone.
11:51And what's more,
11:53he starts another tray,
11:56which is to become part of his signature.
11:58He changes his name.
11:59Going by an unknown alias,
12:02Bowles made his way to Silver Spring, Maryland.
12:06Just a month after the attack on John Roberts,
12:09Bowles would later confess
12:10to the murder of 39-year-old David Jarman
12:14after meeting him on a night out
12:16in the DuPont Circle region of Washington, D.C.
12:21Gary told me that Mr. Jarman
12:24was doing something he didn't like
12:26and he told him to stop.
12:28Mr. Jarman did not stop
12:31and Gary got mad and strangled him
12:36and wrapped him up of bed sheets,
12:39turned the A.C. down real low
12:41so it would be cold in there
12:43and he left.
12:46Just as he'd forced something
12:48into the mouth of his first victim,
12:51John Roberts,
12:52Bowles did the same to David Jarman.
12:55Jarman is beaten, strangled.
12:58But this time,
13:01there's a little additional twist.
13:04Bowles stuffs a sex toy
13:07into his victim's mouth
13:09when he leaves him.
13:12This murder is interesting
13:14because he's stuffed the sex toy
13:16in this man's mouth.
13:17This is something
13:18that he's doing in a performative way.
13:21He's wanting to humiliate his victim.
13:25David Jarman had last been seen
13:28leaving a bar on P Street
13:29with an unknown man.
13:32The murder stunned the local residents.
13:35It sent shockwaves
13:37through the community
13:38because you just didn't hear
13:40of such things back then
13:42and it really hit home
13:44in the gay community
13:45because it was,
13:46DuPont Circle was known
13:47to be a popular hangout
13:49for gay people
13:51and they had many bars
13:53and restaurants
13:54that many liked to frequent
13:55because it was just
13:57the cool place to go.
14:00Investigators had no idea
14:02that the murders
14:03of David Jarman
14:04and John Roberts
14:05were linked.
14:06The two crime scenes
14:07were over 700 miles apart
14:09which meant that
14:10two different police departments
14:12were working on the cases.
14:15It's not as if
14:16this is a master criminal.
14:17On the contrary.
14:19But what he is clever enough to do
14:21is to cross county lines
14:24thereby evading
14:26the local police department.
14:28And you have to remember
14:30that at this point
14:31there is no national database.
14:34Bowles would soon strike again.
14:36Just three weeks after
14:38the murder of David Jarman,
14:40he was in yet another state,
14:42Savannah, Georgia,
14:43the home of 72-year-old local hero
14:46Milton Bradley.
14:48Milton Bradley was a World War II veteran.
14:51He suffered a brain injury
14:54in World War II,
14:55was totally disabled
14:58and got along
15:00from with a stipend
15:02from his family
15:02that he got daily.
15:04And he's a very,
15:06very nice,
15:08kind, gentle man
15:08and pretty much stayed
15:10in the downtown Savannah area
15:11which was his footprint.
15:12He didn't leave that area.
15:15On the 5th of May, 1994,
15:18Milton Bradley's body
15:19was found
15:20on a nearby golf course.
15:22He'd become victim number three
15:24of Gary Ray Bowles.
15:27There were pieces
15:28of a broken toilet,
15:29the leaves and dirt
15:30around Bradley's body
15:31were in disarray
15:32and there were scrapes
15:33in the back of a maintenance shed
15:34that indicated somebody
15:35had been forced against it
15:36or that a struggle,
15:37a violent struggle
15:38had taken place.
15:39There was a severe amount
15:40of trauma
15:42to Bradley's face
15:43and neck
15:43and head
15:43and the strangest thing
15:46about it
15:47was there were dirt
15:49and leaves
15:50protruding from Bradley's mouth.
15:52Just like David Jarman,
15:55Milton Bradley
15:56had last been seen
15:57in a local bar
15:58with a mysterious
16:00out-of-towner.
16:02We began receiving
16:03information,
16:04myself and my partner
16:06at the time,
16:06Detective Deborah Robinson,
16:08from the gay community
16:09that Bradley had been seen
16:10with a drifter
16:11who had come into town
16:12who was telling
16:13different stories,
16:14giving different stories
16:15about where he was from,
16:17how he got to Savannah
16:18and giving different names.
16:19He was identified as James,
16:21Mike or Mark.
16:22The killer's palm print
16:23was taken at the crime scene
16:25but detectives had no idea
16:27who it belonged to.
16:29They were unaware
16:30that a serial killer
16:31was on the loose
16:32working up and down
16:34the 1,900-mile-long
16:36I-95 highway.
16:38So you've now had
16:40three murders
16:41within the space
16:42of two months.
16:43Bowles is unrepentant
16:45and absolutely determined
16:47to go on killing.
16:49Bowles stayed in Georgia
16:51to claim his next victim.
16:53Although it was a detour
16:54from his usual route
16:55along the I-95,
16:57his M.O. remained the same.
17:00He crossed paths
17:01with 47-year-old
17:02Alverson Carter
17:03in Atlanta
17:05on the 13th of May.
17:08He met Mr. Carter
17:10in a gay bar
17:12and I guess Mr. Carter
17:14invited Gary over
17:15to his apartment.
17:16Once he was over there,
17:18they were drinking
17:19and then they engaged
17:21into sex.
17:23Mr. Carter,
17:24according to Gary,
17:26was very aggressive
17:27in his sexual behavior
17:30and Gary was telling him
17:32to quit doing
17:32what he was doing.
17:34He didn't like it.
17:35Gary went downstairs,
17:37told Carter
17:38that he went down there
17:39to get some more liquor.
17:41He picked up a knife,
17:43went back upstairs
17:46and killed him
17:47by stabbing him.
17:50This case was
17:51a very unique case
17:53when it comes
17:54to Bowles' crime
17:57because Alverson Carter
17:59was killed
18:00via stab wounds.
18:02This was the first
18:03of his,
18:04and only,
18:05of his murders
18:07where there was
18:08stabbing involved.
18:10The signs
18:11of a violent struggle,
18:13furniture broken
18:15and in disarray,
18:17Alverson Carter's mouth
18:18was stuffed
18:19with a towel.
18:23As the investigation
18:24into Alverson Carter's
18:26murder began,
18:27Bowles was already
18:28in a different state.
18:30Back in Florida
18:31and on the I-95,
18:33he surfaced
18:34just north of Jacksonville
18:36in Nassau County
18:37where he soon befriended
18:3937-year-old Al Morris.
18:42Al was a very,
18:43uh,
18:44fun person.
18:45He liked to have
18:46a good time.
18:47He was business,
18:48but he liked to,
18:49uh,
18:50party on the weekends,
18:51liked to,
18:51uh,
18:52furnish people
18:53with,
18:53uh,
18:53food and,
18:54and drinks.
18:55He liked to have
18:56a good time.
18:58Jackie remembers
18:59the first time
19:00he met Al's
19:01new friend.
19:04They were supposed
19:05to come to my store
19:06and they actually
19:07arrived a little earlier
19:08and come over
19:08to my house
19:09and that's when
19:10I first met Gary,
19:12which Al introduced me
19:13to him
19:14as Joey Pearson
19:15and he was
19:16standing there
19:18with his hands
19:19in his pockets
19:19already wearing
19:20Al's clothes
19:21and I thought
19:23that kind of
19:23struck me
19:24kind of odd.
19:25Despite his
19:27initial concern,
19:28Jackie soon
19:29warmed to the
19:30mysterious stranger.
19:32His personality
19:33traits to start out
19:34was very friendly,
19:36he was kind of,
19:37uh,
19:38outgoing,
19:38had a good little
19:39sense of humour
19:40about him
19:41and, uh,
19:42he could,
19:42he could wedge his
19:43way, uh,
19:44right into a crowd
19:45real easy.
19:47He inveigled his
19:48way into their
19:49lives.
19:50He became,
19:51quotes,
19:52a friend.
19:53They didn't suspect
19:54him,
19:54they didn't think
19:55that this man
19:55who was buddying
19:56up to them
19:58could possibly
19:59be dangerous
19:59and that was part
20:01of Bowles'
20:02MO,
20:02that he wasn't,
20:04uh,
20:05an evil figure
20:06dressed in a cloak.
20:07He was just
20:08this guy
20:09who seemed
20:11harmless enough.
20:13Bowles stayed
20:13with Al Morris
20:14for a few days
20:16with the promise
20:16of doing some
20:17jobs to help
20:18him out.
20:19He was supposed
20:20to be doing
20:21some work
20:22around Al's
20:23house that
20:24needed to be
20:24done.
20:25He needed
20:25some work
20:26done in the
20:26kitchen and
20:27he needed
20:28some work
20:28done on his
20:29porch.
20:30He didn't
20:30do any of
20:30the work
20:31at all.
20:31He laid
20:32around all
20:32day drinking
20:33and smoking.
20:36This is him.
20:37Appearing to
20:38be somebody
20:38who is
20:39helpful and
20:39who is
20:40giving and
20:41who is
20:41going to
20:42make the
20:42victim's
20:43life easier.
20:44So it's
20:45that getting
20:45inside the
20:46home which
20:47is the
20:47important thing
20:48for me.
20:49He is
20:49accessing
20:50their private
20:51zone,
20:52their safe
20:53space and
20:54then he's
20:55violating that
20:55in the
20:56worst possible
20:56way.
20:58On one
20:58occasion,
20:59Jackie had
21:00to break
21:00up a fight
21:01between Al
21:02and Bowles
21:02in the
21:03parking lot
21:04of a bar.
21:05He had
21:06no idea
21:06it would
21:07be the
21:07last time
21:08he'd
21:08see his
21:09friend alive.
21:11And the
21:12next morning
21:13I got up
21:13and I
21:14called Al
21:15and he
21:16was a
21:16busy signal
21:17on his
21:17phone.
21:19And I
21:19called him
21:20until I
21:20had to
21:20go to
21:21town.
21:23And then
21:24when I
21:24come back
21:25from town
21:25I called
21:26Al about
21:26three more
21:27times and
21:28it was a
21:28busy signal
21:29and I
21:29said,
21:30oh,
21:30I've just
21:30got to lay
21:32down for a
21:32little bit
21:32and take
21:33a nap.
21:34So I
21:34went over
21:35to the
21:35house and
21:36I laid
21:36down and
21:36just as
21:37soon as
21:37I did
21:37they come
21:38knocking at
21:38the door
21:39saying,
21:39Al's been
21:40murdered,
21:41Al's been
21:41murdered.
21:43Jackie
21:43immediately
21:44rushed over
21:45to Al's
21:46trailer park
21:47home.
21:49There was
21:49a crowd
21:50of people
21:50in the
21:50yard.
21:51The
21:52trailer
21:52door was
21:53open,
21:53there was
21:53a bloody
21:53handprint
21:54on the
21:55door and
21:56I saw
21:57his mother
21:57and she
21:58said that
21:58she had
21:59went in
21:59there and
21:59found him
22:00in on the
22:01kitchen floor
22:02and it
22:03looked like
22:03he had
22:03just come
22:04out of
22:04the shower
22:04and he
22:05had a
22:05towel
22:06around his
22:06neck and
22:07she just
22:08would never
22:08forget his
22:09eyes and
22:10there was
22:10blood all
22:11over the
22:12living room
22:13where Al
22:14had tried to
22:14find the
22:15front door
22:15of the
22:16trailer to
22:16get out
22:17but Gary
22:18was torturing
22:18him all
22:19the way
22:22until he
22:23died.
22:25Just six
22:26days after
22:27arriving in
22:27town,
22:28Bowles had
22:29killed for
22:30the fifth
22:30time.
22:31He would
22:32eventually
22:32confess to
22:33Al Morris'
22:34murder and
22:35the fight
22:36that led
22:36up to
22:37it.
22:38He told
22:39me about
22:39that one.
22:40Al Morris,
22:41he wasn't
22:42just a
22:42pushover and
22:44Gary thought
22:44he was and
22:46they got in
22:47an argument
22:47because they
22:49were out and
22:50Al saw him
22:52making, uh,
22:54motions towards
22:55someone else and
22:56when they got
22:57back to the
22:57trailer, Al's
22:58trailer, they
22:59were drinking
23:01and Al brought
23:02it up and they
23:03got into a
23:03fight and
23:04according to
23:05Gary, he said
23:06that guy was
23:07whipping my
23:08ass.
23:09I couldn't get
23:10him off of
23:10me and the
23:12only way you
23:12could get him
23:13off of him is
23:13there was a
23:14shotgun nearby and
23:16Gary said he
23:17picked up the
23:17shotgun and shot
23:18Al.
23:19He said that
23:19was the only
23:20way I'd get
23:21him off of me.
23:21In less than
23:23ten weeks,
23:24Gary Ray
23:25Bowles had
23:26taken the
23:26lives of
23:27five men.
23:28Detectives from
23:29five different
23:30police departments
23:31were trying to
23:32solve their
23:33individual cases.
23:34It would take
23:35some extraordinary
23:36detective work
23:37to finally bring
23:38Bowles to
23:39justice, but
23:40not before he
23:41would kill
23:42for a sixth
23:43time.
23:51In May
23:531994, Gary
23:55Ray Bowles
23:56had killed
23:56for a fifth
23:57time.
23:59Bowles had
23:59murdered Al
24:00Morris after
24:01winning his
24:02trust and
24:03attacking him
24:04in his Nassau
24:05County home.
24:09He feeds
24:11off other
24:12people's
24:12kindness and
24:13other people's
24:14willingness to
24:15welcome someone
24:17into their
24:18home.
24:18And this gives
24:19him immense
24:20feelings of
24:20power.
24:21And I think
24:21the home is
24:22this constant
24:23theme that
24:24keeps coming
24:24up with him.
24:25So the home
24:26is somewhere
24:26where he
24:27never felt
24:27safe.
24:28The home
24:28was somewhere
24:29where he
24:30was abused,
24:31he was
24:31violated, and
24:32now he's
24:33going into
24:33other people's
24:34homes.
24:34He's making
24:35his way into
24:36other people's
24:36lives and
24:37he's violating
24:38them.
24:39Five
24:40killings in
24:41a matter of
24:42weeks.
24:44It's as if
24:45he's absolutely
24:47on an
24:48adrenaline rush,
24:50fueled by,
24:51no doubt,
24:52a certain amount
24:52of alcohol,
24:53but fueled also,
24:54no question,
24:55by a genuine
24:56bloodlust.
24:59He's unrepentant,
25:01unremorseful.
25:04but by now,
25:07some of the
25:08police departments
25:09are beginning
25:10to see there
25:11might be a
25:11pattern here.
25:13Detective
25:14John Best,
25:15who was
25:15investigating the
25:16murder of
25:17Milton Bradley
25:18in Savannah,
25:19Georgia,
25:20had sent out a
25:21request to
25:21neighboring police
25:22departments to
25:23see if they had
25:24any similar
25:25homicides.
25:26And he soon
25:27got a response
25:28from investigators
25:29in Nassau
25:30County who
25:31were looking
25:31into Al
25:32Morris'
25:33murder.
25:34Two murders
25:35of gay men
25:36involving a
25:37transient or a
25:38drifter who
25:39was a suspect.
25:40These murders
25:41occur right off
25:42the I-95
25:43corridor.
25:43These crime
25:44scenes are
25:45eerily similar,
25:46even though one
25:47is outside,
25:48one is inside.
25:49My crime scene
25:50with Milton Bradley,
25:51pockets are turned
25:52inside out.
25:52Nassau County crime
25:53scene with Al
25:54Morris, pockets
25:55are turned inside
25:55out, so I feel
25:57at this point
25:58the two are
25:59linked.
26:01John showed
26:02a composite
26:03sketch of the
26:04suspect to
26:05witnesses who'd
26:05seen him with
26:06Milton Bradley
26:07on the night
26:08of his murder.
26:09One of them
26:10claimed he'd
26:11been to a
26:11convenience store
26:12with bowls
26:13the previous
26:14day.
26:15Armed with
26:16security cam
26:17footage from
26:17the store,
26:18John approached
26:19Jackie Strickland,
26:20who'd met the
26:21killer before his
26:22attack on Al
26:23Morris.
26:25So I watched
26:26the videotape
26:28from that
26:29convenience store
26:30for several
26:31minutes, and
26:32then the door
26:32opened, and
26:33then two guys
26:34come in, and
26:35one guy went
26:36to the counter,
26:37and the other
26:38guy was Joey,
26:40who he told
26:41me he was.
26:41I recognized
26:42him immediately
26:43when he came
26:43in the store.
26:45The other guy
26:45went and bought
26:46a pack of
26:46cigarettes, but
26:48Joey is sitting
26:50there with a
26:50woman who has
26:52a baby on her
26:53hip, and he's
26:53playing with her
26:54little baby girl
26:56there, and
26:58talking about
26:58maybe how cute
26:59the baby is,
27:00and something,
27:01and this guy has
27:01just murdered all
27:03these people, and
27:04has no conscience
27:05whatsoever.
27:06And that's when I
27:07said, that's him,
27:08that's what he looks
27:08like, that's your
27:10guy right there.
27:13So now we have
27:14one suspect linked
27:16to two murders in
27:17two different states
27:18with the same
27:18circumstances, same
27:20violent crime scenes,
27:21pockets turned
27:22inside out on both.
27:23So now we have
27:24a definitive link,
27:26two murders, two
27:27states, same
27:28suspect.
27:28And then we spoke
27:29to the supervisory
27:31agent in charge,
27:31Harold Jones, and
27:32I'll never forget
27:33Harold Jones looking
27:34at me and saying,
27:35Johnny, I think you
27:36got a serial killer
27:37on your hands.
27:39FBI agent Harold
27:40Jones sent a request
27:42out to see if there
27:43were any more
27:44potential victims that
27:46could be linked to
27:47the killer.
27:48And he soon got a
27:49hit, another murder
27:51case in Florida that
27:53had happened back
27:54in March.
27:55The Daytona Beach
27:57police responded to
27:58Special Agent Jones'
28:00teletype and gave him
28:01the name of a suspect
28:02in the murder of
28:03John Hardy Roberts.
28:04The name they gave
28:05was Gary Ray Bowles.
28:10Finally, investigators
28:11had a name.
28:12Gary Ray Bowles had
28:14a long list of felonies,
28:16meaning his fingerprints
28:17were on file from a
28:19previous arrest.
28:20These proved to be a
28:22match with the prints
28:23found at the Milton
28:24Bradley crime scene.
28:26So now we have
28:27physical evidence, we
28:28have a palm print at the
28:29scene, we have video
28:30evidence of Bowles being
28:32in Savannah with a
28:32witness.
28:33That day I secured a
28:34murder warrant for Gary
28:35Bowles.
28:36Bowles was added to the
28:38FBI's top ten most
28:40wanted fugitives list.
28:42Investigators needed to
28:43track him down fast.
28:45We see that all of our
28:46local papers, the news
28:48was out, and all of our
28:50local news, the word was
28:52getting out that this guy,
28:53Gary Ray Bowles, needed to
28:55be found, this is what he
28:56looks like, and he needs to
28:58be picked up off the streets
29:00because he's very dangerous.
29:03Words pretty much can't
29:05define how I felt.
29:06I was glad that we have this
29:08person identified.
29:09You know, I can tell the
29:11Bradley family that now we
29:12know who killed Milton.
29:14Then there's another part of
29:15me that realized now, now the
29:18hard part starts, we have to
29:20find him.
29:21Bowles was now becoming
29:23infamous across the nation,
29:25and the media had even come
29:27up with a nickname for the
29:28killer.
29:30The media started calling
29:31Bowles the I-95 killer
29:33because as we found out later,
29:34that was the way he got
29:35around, that's the main
29:36highway on the east coast of
29:38the United States, that's how
29:39he traveled.
29:40I think this transience is
29:42conscious.
29:43It's not something that's
29:44happening by accident, because
29:46there's an awareness among
29:47serial killers at this
29:48particular point in time that
29:50police systems perhaps don't
29:52always join up particularly
29:53well.
29:55The additional publicity led
29:57to detectives linking Bowles to
29:59two further murders due to the
30:02similarly chaotic crime
30:03scenes where the victims had
30:05been left with something
30:07stuffed in their mouths, David
30:09Jarman in Maryland and Alverson
30:12Carter in Georgia.
30:14After killing five men in just
30:17over nine weeks, Bowles had
30:19suddenly stopped.
30:20Nobody knew where the 32-year-old
30:23drifter was.
30:25I was very worried when he was
30:28on the run because we're sitting
30:30out like open targets on the open
30:32highway there, and I thought that,
30:35you know, he might come back one
30:36night and say, hey, remember me?
30:39What'd you tell them?
30:40You know, are you the reason that
30:42they all are after me now?
30:44I just had no idea.
30:47After laying low for six months,
30:50Bowles resurfaced in Jacksonville
30:52Beach, Florida.
30:53He couldn't resist killing for a
30:55sixth time.
30:56On a winter's morning, 42-year-old
30:59Jay Hinton didn't turn up at the
31:02flower shop where he worked.
31:04Well, I came on to the case, I
31:06believe it was November 20th of
31:101994.
31:13A relative of Mr. Hinton's called in
31:15and said, I believe my brother-in-law,
31:20my girlfriend's brother is dead, and
31:24he's in a trailer.
31:25That type of call.
31:27Uniformed officers were dispatched
31:29out there.
31:30Then we, as homicide, we were
31:33notified, and we responded.
31:36As we went inside, and we went in
31:38very carefully, and just to speed
31:41things up, we found the deceased
31:43individual covered up with blankets
31:46and sheets.
31:48Jay Hinton's head had been struck by a
31:51heavy object.
31:52A cinder block was laying on the bed
31:55next to his body.
31:56The murder bore all the hallmarks of
31:59another brutal Gary Ray Bowles attack.
32:02I think the reason for this, this
32:05extent of violence, is because the more
32:07violent he is, the more powerful and the
32:09more in control he feels.
32:11During his childhood, he came to learn
32:13that violence was currency, and the more
32:15of it you had, the better, the more
32:18powerful you were.
32:19So I think that does explain that the
32:21level of brutality that we've seen in
32:23these cases.
32:25Detective Joe Collins had read all
32:27the information on Bowles and was
32:30certain that the serial killer had
32:33struck again.
32:35At one particular time, once we were
32:37going through everything, there were
32:40some key things.
32:41There was a gin bottle.
32:43He liked drinking gin.
32:45There were cool cigarettes.
32:47He liked smoking those.
32:50Some of the things, the way the victim
32:53was, the way we found Jay Hinton
32:56was also a big clue.
32:59And I made mention to my partner at the
33:02time that, you know, hey man, I think
33:06this might be Bowles.
33:07This might be Gary Bowles.
33:09But documentation recovered at the scene
33:13suggested that someone entirely
33:15different may be involved in the murder
33:18of Jay Hinton.
33:19The biggest evidence that we found
33:22was the Ameriforce pay slip.
33:25The pay slip had the name of Timothy
33:27or Tim Whitfield on it.
33:30So that was, you know, I would say
33:33that's probably a good, one of the best
33:35pieces of evidence, because it gives us
33:39the lead to find out why Jay Hinton,
33:43the victim, had a pay slip belonging
33:47to someone else.
33:49While his heart said that Bowles was the killer,
33:53Joe's head told him to follow the evidence.
33:56We wanted to know who Tim Whitfield was.
33:59Don't, you know, haze the investigation at all.
34:03Don't rush through it and say,
34:04yep, it's Bowles, he's using a different name.
34:07We want to know who this guy, Tim Whitfield, was,
34:10and go from there, one step at a time.
34:14The hunt was on.
34:16Joe and his team needed to locate Tim Whitfield
34:19and find out if he truly was Gary Ray Bowles
34:24before the transient killer moved on
34:27and murdered again.
34:37In November 1994, police in Jacksonville Beach, Florida
34:43were closing the net on serial killer Gary Ray Bowles.
34:48Detectives believed that Bowles was responsible
34:51for the death of 42-year-old Jay Hinton,
34:53but a pay slip left behind at the crime scene
34:56pointed them towards a man named Tim Whitfield.
35:00Investigators were certain that Whitfield and Bowles
35:03were one and the same.
35:06Well, there could hardly be a more obvious clue
35:10for the local police to find.
35:11They look at the pay slip,
35:13they approach the AmeriForce organization
35:17and ask if Timothy Whitfield is working there.
35:20They're told yes.
35:22They're then alerted the moment he turns up for work
35:25and he is arrested for the murder of Hinton.
35:30Detective Joe Collins led the interrogation of Tim Whitfield.
35:36We, my partner and I, were asking him questions
35:38about how he knew Jay Hinton.
35:43And he would tell us partial truths,
35:47things that we already knew,
35:48but then he would switch gears and change up
35:51and say something that really wasn't true.
35:55As the interview continued on,
35:58Whitfield grew ever more flustered.
36:02About the second or third time
36:04he started wavering again and telling us a story,
36:08I stopped him abruptly.
36:10And I said,
36:11I told you, don't lie to me.
36:14I want you to tell me the truth.
36:17I was a little stern as the way I said it.
36:20My partner was as well.
36:22And apparently he didn't like that,
36:25being boxed into a corner, so to speak.
36:28And he jumped up,
36:30almost got in my face and said,
36:31you want to know who I really am?
36:33You want me to tell you the truth?
36:35I'm Gary Ray Bowles.
36:37That's who I am, Gary Ray Bowles.
36:39And he sat down.
36:43At that particular time,
36:45I'm looking at Gary Ray Bowles.
36:48Right then and there,
36:50yeah, I know, this is the guy.
36:52And I just,
36:54I remember putting my hands on his shoulder,
36:56his head was down,
36:58and he said,
36:59I'm glad it's over.
37:01And I just,
37:02I said,
37:03I'll just calm down.
37:05I'm here,
37:07and we'll talk about it.
37:09Gary Ray Bowles,
37:11who had killed six men
37:12in just eight months,
37:14was finally in custody.
37:16He would never be free again.
37:19Well, it was an exciting feeling.
37:21I'm not going to say it was jump for joy
37:23or something like that,
37:24but it was like,
37:25wow,
37:26we really do have this guy.
37:29And I said,
37:30well,
37:30can you prove it?
37:32And he goes,
37:33yeah,
37:33I can prove it.
37:34And he pulled out a wallet,
37:36and he said,
37:37he pulled out Tim Whitfield's
37:39ID,
37:41social security card.
37:42He goes,
37:43this is the ID I stole
37:45from the guy I killed
37:46in Nassau County.
37:50And I'm like,
37:51okay,
37:51he just submitted to another murder,
37:52but I've got to get my murder down.
37:56We have to worry about our murder.
37:59Bowles admitted to doctoring
38:01Al Morris's ID card
38:03after murdering him
38:04in Nassau County.
38:06Bowles then went into detail
38:08about how he killed Jay Hinton.
38:10He told the detectives
38:12they'd fallen out
38:13over a mutual friend,
38:14and Jay had told Bowles
38:16to get out of his house.
38:19And the more he thought about
38:20what Jay told him,
38:23the matter he got.
38:24So he went outside
38:26and picked up
38:27a square concrete leveling block.
38:33It weighs approximately
38:3540 pounds or so.
38:37He walked into the bedroom
38:38where Jay was sleeping
38:39and dropped the block
38:41on Jay's head.
38:42It did not kill Jay.
38:45They struggled with each other
38:47back and forth.
38:49Gary finally overwhelmed Jay
38:51because he'd been hit
38:52and the head
38:52had cracked his skull.
38:54And he strangled him
38:56and then he stuffed,
38:58I believe it was
38:58a maroon wash rag
39:01down his throat
39:02and some toilet paper as well.
39:05And I wrapped him up.
39:08It is one of the most
39:12horrifying facts
39:14about Bowles
39:15is that in the end
39:17I think he came to glory in him.
39:19Glory in his killings.
39:21He came to
39:24wear them around him
39:25like a coat.
39:29I am the I-95 killer
39:31and I will get away with it.
39:33I have no doubt whatever
39:34that he would have gone on killing
39:36remorselessly
39:37had he not been caught
39:38in November 1994.
39:41After confessing
39:42to the murders
39:43of Jay Hinton
39:44and Al Morris,
39:45Bowles met with detectives
39:47in Savannah, Georgia
39:48to discuss
39:49the Milton Bradley case.
39:52Bowles confessed
39:53pretty much chronologically
39:54and Bowles confessed
39:56it would depend
39:56on which police agency
39:57or law enforcement agency
39:59was interviewing him
40:00at the time.
40:01Bowles confessed first
40:03to the Jacksonville detectives
40:05about the murder
40:05of Jay Hinton.
40:06Next, Dennis Reagan
40:08and I interviewed him
40:09about the Milton Bradley murder
40:11and while we were interviewing Bowles
40:13about the murder
40:14of Milton Bradley,
40:15he confessed to the murder
40:17of Alverson Carter.
40:19Bowles would eventually
40:20confess to the murders
40:22of John Roberts
40:23and David Jarman too,
40:25meaning he had admitted
40:27to killing
40:27all of his six victims.
40:29Detectives were still
40:31fascinated by his signature
40:33calling card.
40:34Gary told me,
40:36because I wanted to know
40:37why he put things
40:38in the rags,
40:40toilet paper,
40:42washcloths,
40:42whatever,
40:43in someone's throat.
40:44Why did you do that?
40:46And he told,
40:47Gary told me,
40:48he goes,
40:48I don't know,
40:48he goes,
40:49I just didn't want
40:49to hear them,
40:51the sounds coming
40:53out of their mouth.
40:54That's what he told me.
40:55And I said,
40:56well,
40:57you think you did it
40:58to make sure
40:59they were dead?
40:59He goes,
41:00no,
41:01I just didn't want
41:02to hear them.
41:04I think this was something
41:05that was symbolic.
41:06So it's not only
41:08silencing them
41:08in terms of stopping
41:09them from screaming
41:10when he's killing them,
41:11it's also silencing them
41:13after their deaths.
41:15He's saying to these men,
41:16you don't have a voice,
41:18your voice is not worth hearing.
41:19And this is all coming
41:21from those feelings
41:22of humiliation
41:23and feelings of shame
41:24that he has
41:25within himself.
41:26So he is essentially
41:27taking this out
41:29on his victims
41:29by shutting them up.
41:31Although he had admitted
41:33to all six murders,
41:35Bowles was originally
41:36charged with just one,
41:38Jay Hinton.
41:39If found guilty
41:41of first degree murder
41:42in Florida,
41:43Bowles would be sentenced
41:44to death
41:45in spite of the other cases.
41:47There's no point
41:48as far as the authorities
41:49are concerned
41:50in lumping
41:51all the other crimes together.
41:53They have him
41:54absolutely stone cold
41:56on the killing
41:57of Hinton
41:58in his trailer.
41:59So they proceed
42:00on that count alone
42:02to begin with.
42:04By 1999,
42:06Gary Bowles
42:07had been sentenced
42:08to death
42:08for the murders
42:09of all his Florida victims,
42:11John Roberts,
42:13Al Morris,
42:13and Jay Hinton.
42:15He would spend
42:16the next 20 years
42:17of his life
42:18on death row.
42:20Like so many prisoners
42:22on death row
42:23in the United States,
42:25appeal after appeal,
42:27legal process
42:28after legal process,
42:30grinds on
42:30incessantly.
42:32It's not until
42:34August 2019
42:37that he is finally executed
42:39by lethal injection
42:40in Florida.
42:41Gary Ray Bowles
42:43was 57 years old
42:45when he was executed.
42:46He always claimed
42:48that resentment
42:49from his childhood
42:50and the abortion
42:51of his girlfriend's baby
42:53in 1985
42:54led him to the fits
42:56of rage
42:56that resulted
42:58in the deaths
42:58of six innocent men.
43:01His blaming his childhood
43:03for an excuse
43:04to kill,
43:05I mean,
43:06he killed six times
43:07and his reason
43:08that he snapped.
43:09Really,
43:09you snapped six times?
43:10So there was no remorse.
43:12And the last part of that,
43:14if you had to go
43:17to these crime scenes
43:18or review the photos
43:19but look at these crime scenes,
43:21the amount of overkill,
43:22the amount of force,
43:23the amount that was used
43:24was just completely over the top.
43:28It was way, way more
43:29than needed
43:30to just kill somebody.
43:34After the first one
43:35with John Roberts,
43:37I can understand
43:38the anger
43:40which would drive it
43:41but then afterwards,
43:43you know what you're doing
43:45and that's where
43:46the evil comes in.
43:48It's like a dog,
43:49as they say,
43:50canines.
43:52Once they bite somebody
43:54the first time,
43:56it becomes a whole lot easier.
43:58In other words,
43:58the taste of blood.
44:00Humans are almost
44:01the same way.
44:02I just think
44:03after the first one,
44:04it became a little bit easier.
44:05He had become mad
44:07and he wasn't able
44:08to hold back the temper.
44:14Bowles weaseled his way
44:16into the lives
44:17of his victims,
44:18be it for one night
44:19or longer,
44:20before killing them
44:21in apparent outbursts
44:23of rage.
44:24No matter what caused him
44:25to act this way,
44:27nothing can excuse
44:28the murder of six men
44:30who showed him
44:31nothing but kindness
44:32and hospitality,
44:33which is why
44:35Gary Ray Bowles
44:36will always be remembered
44:38as one of the world's
44:39most evil killers.
45:07Stück disciplin'vert