Former Tipp City area resident Frank Bowen faces a possible maximum sentence of life in prison in the October 2014 murder of friend Joseph Graley III, 31, of Bethel Township, Miami County.
A Common Pleas Court jury deliberated 4½ hours Jan. 19 before finding Bowen guilty of felony murder, gross abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence. He will be sentenced Feb. 29 and remains in the county jail pending the sentencing hearing.
Bowen, 26, gave no outward reaction when Judge Christopher Gee read each of the three verdicts late in the afternoon.
Defense lawyers Steve Layman and Steve King of the county public defender’s office did not ask the judge to individually poll jurors regarding their verdicts.
Another jury last August was unable to agree after 14 hours of deliberations on the three charges but did find Bowen guilty of a fourth charge of safecracking. He will be sentenced on all four charges next month.
King said he thought the case was well tried.
“It was a clean case and we are certainly hoping for a just sentence, which I am sure Judge Gee will do,” he said.
King said he would discuss with Layman any issues for appeal.
Prosecutor Tony Kendell agreed the case was tried well.
“I am pleased with the verdict. The jurors came to just conclusion and I am real happy for the family,” he said.
Kendell said the foreman of the first jury told him one juror “required a videotape of the actual murder” before finding anyone guilty. That position would be inconsistent with the required burden of proof discussed with potential jurors during the jury selection process.
“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.
Graley’s body was found Oct. 23, 2014, under brush in the backyard of his home. He had been reported missing to the sheriff’s office the previous day.
During the trial, investigators said Graley died of blunt force trauma to the head and neck. Prosecutors said a sledgehammer found in a wooded area behind the house with the DNA of both Graley and Bowen was believed to be the murder weapon.
Bowen returned to the county in late September 2014 from South Carolina. Prosecutors said he moved in with friend Graley because he had no place to stay four days before Graley disappeared.
In closing arguments Jan. 19, Janna Parker, an assistant prosecutor, pointed to testimony of sheriff’s Major Steve Lord. Lord interviewed Bowen for three hours the morning before Graley’s remains were found.
“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.
Layman called on jurors to use their common sense in reviewing what they heard in testimony Jan. 13-15.
He 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.