Bobby Jack Fowler
{{Short description|American criminal (1939-2006)}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Bobby Jack Fowler
| image = Bobby_Jack_Fowler_-_mugshot_-_01.jpg
| caption = Fowler's booking photo in Lincoln County, Oregon, 1995
| birth_name = Robert Jack Fowler
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1939|6|12}}
| birth_place = Merkel, Texas, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2006|5|20|1939|6|12}}
| death_place = Oregon State Penitentiary, Salem, Oregon, U.S.
| victims = 0 confirmed
1 charged
2 survived
Up to 20–100+ suspected
| country = United States and Canada
| states = Oregon and British Columbia, possible active in other states in the United States and Canada
| beginyear = 1973
| endyear = 1995 (confirmed)
1969 – 1995 (possible)
| apprehended = June 28, 1995
| conviction = Rape
Attempted kidnapping
Arson
Attempted rape
Attempted murder
Discharging a firearm within city limits
| sentence = 16 years, 3 months with the possibility of parole
| occupation = Construction worker
| children = 5
| spouse = Theresa Louise Patton (1959–1971)
}}
Bobby Jack Fowler (June 12, 1939 – May 20, 2006) was an American rapist and suspected serial killer who was active in the United States and Canada from 1973 to 1995. He died in prison of lung cancer during a 16-year sentence following a conviction for rape, kidnapping and attempted rape in Newport, Oregon, in 1996 (for an attack that took place in 1995).
Biography and early life
{{unsourced section|date=July 2024}}
= Childhood =
Bobby Jack Fowler was born June 12, 1939, to Selva “Mutt” Fowler and Oma Lee (Hathaway) Fowler. His older brother, Walter was born in 1934, and his younger sister, Susan was born in 1950; both died in 2004, two years before his death. His parents allegedly physically abused him and his siblings during their childhood.
= Marriage =
On March 6, 1959, Fowler married Theresa Patton and had five children: Johnny, Janey, Pam, Loretta and Randell. After his two arrests in 1969, he and Theresa divorced on May 17, 1971, just before he moved to British Columbia.
Known crimes and modus operandi
Fowler was a transient construction worker who is known to have traveled extensively across North America. He spent time "rabbiting around"["We think that was how he tried to protect himself, immediately rabbiting to another part of the country and establishing himself there," Lincoln County Detective Ron Benson, quoted in Lori tobias], "Bobby Jack Fowler, suspect in death of Newport teen girls, may have killed 20 or more people", The Oregonian, October 29, 2012. North America to such places as British Columbia, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Texas, Oregon, South Carolina, Arizona, Tennessee and Washington state.{{cite web|url=http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/09/25/with-one-murder-solved-difficult-highway-of-tears-investigations-go-on/ |title=Bobby Jack Fowler: One murder solved as difficult 'Highway of Tears' investigations go on | Canada | News | National Post |publisher=News.nationalpost.com |date=2012-09-21 |access-date=2012-09-27}}{{cite news| url=http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2012/10/bobby_jack_fowler_suspect_in_d.html | work=The Oregonian | title=Bobby Jack Fowler, suspect in death of Newport teen girls, may have killed 20 or more people | date=2012-10-29}} During his travels he developed an extensive criminal record and is known to have committed several violent crimes. An alcohol, amphetamine, and methamphetamine abuser, Fowler had a criminal record that included attempted murder, sexual assault, and firearms offenses.{{cite web |url=http://www.globaltvbc.com/no+arrests+or+charges+in+bc+missing+women+investigation+rcmp/6442721675/story.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130124175302/http://www.globaltvbc.com/no+arrests+or+charges+in+bc+missing+women+investigation+rcmp/6442721675/story.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 24, 2013 |title=Global BC | B.C. teen murdered on Highway of Tears linked to U.S. prisoner |publisher=Globaltvbc.com |access-date=2012-09-27 }}
In 1969, he was charged with murdering a man and woman in Texas, but was only convicted of discharging a firearm within city limits. Fowler also spent time in a Tennessee prison for sexual assault and attempted murder because, in the words of an investigator, "he tied [a woman] up, beat the hell out of her with her own belt, covered her with brush and left her to die."
He liked to travel far and wide in beat-up old cars, frequently picked up hitchhikers, and spent time in bars and motels. Fowler believed that women he came into contact with who were hitchhiking and hanging out in bars wanted to be sexually assaulted.{{cite web |url=https://thestarphoenix.com/news/Bobby+Jack+Fowler+linked+Highway+Tears+death+suspected+others/7298620/story.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240210192523/https://thestarphoenix.com/news/Bobby+Jack+Fowler+linked+Highway+Tears+death+suspected+others/7298620/story.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 10, 2024 |title=Bobby Jack Fowler: He was violent, charming and sometimes disarming |publisher=Thestarphoenix.com |access-date=2012-09-27 }}
Suspected crimes
Fowler is a suspect or person of interest in at least 16 murders in British Columbia and Oregon{{cite news|author1=Lori Tobias |work=The Oregonian |url=http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2012/09/lincoln_county_killer_a_suspec.html#incart_hbx |title=Dead inmate a possible suspect in as many as seven Oregon homicides, more in Canada |publisher=OregonLive.com |date= 2012-09-25|access-date=2012-09-27}} dating as far back as 1969.
=Project E-Pana=
{{main|E-Pana}}
Fowler was a suspect under the focus of RCMP project E-Pana. His supposed DNA was found on the body of Colleen MacMillen. Fowler is also strongly suspected to have killed both Gale Weys and Pamela Darlington in 1973. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police believe that he may have also killed as many as ten of the other victims,{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.1167468 |title=Deceased U.S. convict linked to 3 B.C. cold cases - British Columbia - CBC News |publisher=Cbc.ca |access-date=2012-09-26}} and possibly as many as 20.{{cite web |url=http://www.katu.com/news/local/Suspect-named-in-1995-double-homicide-linked-to-20-others-171094151.html |title=Suspect named in 1995 double homicide, linked to 20 others | Local & Regional | KATU.com - Portland News, Sports, Traffic Weather and Breaking News - Portland, Oregon |publisher=KATU.com |date=2012-09-10 |access-date=2012-09-26 |archive-date=2012-10-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121006141528/http://www.katu.com/news/local/Suspect-named-in-1995-double-homicide-linked-to-20-others-171094151.html |url-status=dead }}
Potential Canadian victims include those murdered and missing along the Highway of Tears. However, many of these murders occurred after Fowler's imprisonment in 1996 and geographic profiler Kim Rossmo is on the record as saying that in his opinion Fowler is not responsible for any of the deaths along Highway 16 between 1989 and 2006.{{Cite web|url=http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Serial+killer+Bobby+Fowler+probably+main+Highway+Tears+murderer+profiler+says/7311075/story.html|title=Serial killer Bobby Fowler probably not the main Highway of Tears murderer, profiler says|last=Culbert|first=Lori|website=www.vancouversun.com|language=en-ca|access-date=2018-12-29}} It is possible that the only thing linking Fowler to Highway 16 is that he worked for a now closed Prince George roofing company, Happy's Roofing, in 1974.{{Cite web|url=https://ottawacitizen.com/news/Bobby+Jack+Fowler+dead+offender+linked+three+Highway+Tears+murders/7297521/story.html|title=Bobby Jack Fowler, dead U.S. sex offender, linked to three B.C. 'Highway of Tears' murders|last=Culbert|first=Lori|website=www.ottawacitizen.com|language=en-ca|access-date=2018-12-29|archive-date=2018-09-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180930115834/http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Bobby+Jack+Fowler+dead+offender+linked+three+Highway+Tears+murders/7297521/story.html|url-status=dead}}
=Other murders=
On May 3, 1992, around 1:00 a.m., Sheila Swanson, 19, and Melissa Sanders, 17, were last seen making a call from a payphone near the Beverly Beach State Park where they had been camping.{{cite web |author=((District Attorney, Lincoln County, Oregon)) |url=http://www.globalnews.ca/chronology+of+events+in+lincoln+county+oregon/6442721534/story.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130115101244/http://www.globalnews.ca/chronology+of+events+in+lincoln+county+oregon/6442721534/story.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-01-15 |title=Global News | Chronology of events in Lincoln County, Oregon |publisher=Globalnews.ca |access-date=2012-09-26 }}{{cite web |author=in Unsolved |url=http://blogs.discovery.com/bizarre/2009/04/help-solve-the-murders-of-teenage-girls-in-oregon.html |title=Bizarre Crime of the Week: Investigation Discovery: Help Solve the Murders of Teenage Girls in Oregon |publisher=Blogs.discovery.com |date=2009-04-27 |access-date=2012-09-26 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090501140614/http://blogs.discovery.com/bizarre/2009/04/help-solve-the-murders-of-teenage-girls-in-oregon.html |archive-date=2009-05-01 }} Their bodies were later discovered on October 10, 1992, by hunters in a wooded area near Eddyville, Oregon.
Arrest and investigation
On June 28, 1995, Fowler was arrested following an incident in Newport, Oregon, which involved a woman jumping out of a second floor window at the Tides Inn Motel with a rope still tied to her ankle. She survived the attack and reported the incident to the local police.
On January 8, 1996, Fowler was convicted of kidnapping in the first degree, attempted rape in the first degree, sexual abuse in the first degree, coercion, assault in the fourth degree, and menacing. He was sentenced to 195 months (16 years, 3 months) with the possibility of parole.
On September 25, 2012, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Lincoln County District Attorney Rob Bovett named Bobby Jack Fowler as a suspect in three of the E-Pana murders. His supposed DNA was found on the body of Colleen MacMillen, one of the presumed victims.
Death
In May 2006, Fowler died at the age of 66 in Oregon State Penitentiary from lung cancer.{{cite web |url=http://o.canada.com/2012/09/25/0926-fowler-profile/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130118163653/http://o.canada.com/2012/09/25/0926-fowler-profile/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 18, 2013 |title=Bobby Jack Fowler linked to one 'Highway of Tears' death and suspected in two others |website=O.canada.com |date=1974-08-09 |accessdate=2012-09-27 }} His body was cremated.
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20140803000719/http://www.ubcic.bc.ca/files/PDF/highwayoftearsfinal.pdf Highway of Tears Symposium Recommendation Report]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fowler, Bobby Jack}}
Category:20th-century American criminals
Category:American male criminals
Category:American people convicted of assault
Category:American people convicted of attempted murder
Category:American people convicted of rape
Category:American people convicted of attempted rape
Category:American people convicted of kidnapping
Category:American people who died in prison custody
Category:Deaths from lung cancer in Oregon
Category:People from Taylor County, Texas
Category:Suspected serial killers