HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015 09-15 Maplewood man charged in son's death is Minnesota's oldest murder defendant PIONEER PRESS Maplewood man charged in son's death is Minnesota's oldest murder de(endant
Updaled:09i15/ZJ1512:19'.�3AMCDI TwinCities.com
Mapiewood man charged in son's death is Minnesola's oldest murder defendanl
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Y����� -�� � � A 90-year-dd Maplewood man,sul�ering irom demenlia and�earing his son mighl kill him,fa�ally shol his 65-year-old son SaWrday during a
K Y�
z _ � i ��� dispu�e about a TV,according b charges.
Kenne�h Henry Bowser,charged Monday with murder,takes the�i�le ol oldest person ever charged wilh Ihe crime in Minnesola.
Bowser called 911 on Saturday night to repor�ihat he had sho�and killed his son with a pisid.
When Mapiewood police olficers arrived at Ihe home in the 1200 Wock of Hilltop Court,Bowser mel ihem at�he Ironl dooc Police handcuf�ed him and put him in his
wheelchair,according lo a aiminal complainl liled Monday in Rarnsey Counry Dislricl Courl.
Pdice�ound Larry Bowser,65,slumped in an ups�airs bedroom door,vay wi�h no pulse and a blood-soaked shirl.The medical examiner determined he bled lo death Irom a
bWlei wound lo his bwer back.
Kenneth Bowser�dd investigalors'he heard a news reporl on N aboul a son murde�irg his lalher by setting him on lire.The defendant said he was concerned Ihat Ihe
same�hing would happen to him'�he canplainl said.
Bowser said his son had been calliry him names aM complaining about lakirg care ol him.
Falher and son lived in Ihe house;rw one else was ihere at the time ol ihe shooling.
Neighbors have reporled Ihat the eldedy Bowser had been inaeasingly slruggling with dementia and Ihal Larry Bowser had been carirg br his lather.
On ihe night o��he shooting,Kenneth Bowser said he was wa�ching TV in his room when his son came upstairs and asked him to come down to ihe living room lo walch
lootball wilh him.
The tather declined,but ihe son retumed a shal time later and began removing cables irom his TV,Kenneth Bowser ldd pdice.
'He said he wanted�o scare his son so he would leave ihe TV alone,"�he complainl said.'He lired a round above his son's head.He said he�ired one round in his son's
di�eclion.The bulle�siruck and killed his son.'
Kenneth Bowser said he used a.38-caliber revdver ihal a hiend gave him 20 years ago.He said he kept it in his bedroom bul had never lired it,ihe compiaint said.
Bowser said he spen133 years in Ihe Army.
He has been charged with second-degree unin�enlional murder.
The Bowser case is simaar to anolher Iatai lalher-son shooting lasl year in Maplewood.Pang Vang,84,was charged with second-degree inimlional murder la Ihe March
2014 shooting death ol his son,36-year-dd Chue Vang.The son had asked his falher to rtrove oul on Ihe day ol Ihe shooting and ihe pair had argued about cable lelevision
a lew days earlie�.Parg Vang pleaded guilry in Augusl bul died in September belae he was senlenced.
Pang Vang had been Ihe ddest person charged with murder in Minnesola since�he state syslem began tracking records in�he 1970s�,Mwever,sane counties did nol pin
ihe syslem unlil ihe 1980s.
The charges againsl Kemeth Bowser mean he is now Minnesota's ddest murder deferWant ever charged.
Bowser's first courl appearance will he Tuesday aliemoon.His inierim bail has been sel at$500,000.
Elizabelh Mohr can he reached at 651428-5762 FWlow her at iwitter.com/LizMohr.