Man charged with 1979 Ind. killing extradited from Maine

CROWN POINT, Ind. – The stepmother of an 8-year-old boy who died in a 1970s torture killing watched as officers escorted into jail the man charged this week with the death.

David B. Bowen, 44, arrived at the Lake County Jail Thursday night after being extradited from Maine two days after his arrest on murder charges.

Bowen, wearing paint-splattered jeans and work boots and wrapped in a tan outdoor work jacket, looked at the floor and did not speak as officers led him in handcuffs and shackles past Barbara Conrick and two other women.

Conrick was stepmother to Kenneth Conrick, the Gary boy whom Bowen is accused of killing in 1979.

The women showed little reaction as the car with Bowen inside arrived at the jail and officers took him inside. Then they cried together, gasping, hugging and muffling sobs with their hands.

Barbara Conrick was not allowed to talk with Bowen and she declined to speak with a reporter.

Bowen, who was arrested in Kingfield, Maine, where he was working on a painting crew, was being held without bail Friday. An initial court hearing was not immediately scheduled, Sheriff Rogelio Dominguez said.

Kevin Joyce, the Maine attorney appointed to represent Bowen in the extradition matter, said Bowen planned to fight the murder charge.

Kenneth Conrick’s nude body was found bound to a tree in October 1979 in a wooded area near his family’s home. A cord had been tied around his neck, and his body showed signs of brutal, prolonged torture, authorities said.

Bowen, then 16, emerged as a suspect, but no physical evidence linked him to the crime until investigators reopened the case three years ago. Authorities located Bowen’s sister and took a DNA sample from her that showed enough similarities to genetic material found at the scene to link Bowen himself to the crime.

Bowen surrendered a DNA sample to Lake County investigators months ago, and investigators said it matched DNA taken from Conrick’s clothing.

Barbara Conrick was allowed to witness Bowen’s arrival because she wants “closure,” Dominguez said.

“She pleaded with our officers for special permission,” Dominguez said. “I could not refuse such a request.”

Bowen moved more than 20 years ago to Maine, where he married and worked as a house painter. He had convictions on charges ranging from drunken driving to felony robbery in the 1980s and early 1990s.