The Tribune

By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Staff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

NO FOUL play is suspected in the death of convicted murderer Forrester Bowe, according to police sources close to the matter.

On Friday, authorities confirmed that Bowe, who took part in a notorious escape in 2006 that resulted in the death of a prison officer, was found dead in his prison cell around 7am.

Police have declined to provide details of the circumstances surrounding Bowe’s death only saying that the matter has been turned over to the coroner for investigation.

The Tribune understands the coroner has instructed the Royal Bahamas Police Force to conduct a formal investigation in the prison ahead of an inquest.

Sources close to the matter say preliminary investigations reveal that Bowe is suspected to have died from a “heart related matter.”

“There were no injuries or anything on the body to suggest that something was done to him,” a well-placed police source said. “At this point there is no reason to suggest foul play, it is believed that he died of a heart attack or some sort of heart related matter.”

Bowe, 37, staged an escape from the maximum security wing with convicted rapist Barry Parcoi, convicted murderer Neil Brown and convicted armed robber Corey Hepburn around 4am on January 17, 2006. Brown was shot dead during attempts to recapture him.

The men were found by the coroner in May 2006 to be jointly responsible for the killing of the 13-year prison veteran Corporal Dion Bowles during their breakout.

The infamous escape prompted examinations into Her Majesty’s Prison and shone a light on the inner workings of the country’s correctional services unit.

Their trial is slated to begin on November 20, 2015.

In addition to killing Mr Bowles, they injured officers Kenneth Sweeting and David Armbrister. Bowe and Parcoi were injured during the incident as well, but they were quickly captured by authorities.

Hepburn, on the other hand, escaped and led police on a two-week hunt before he was recaptured in an apartment building in Coral Harbour.

As for the incident that sent him to prison initially, Bowe was convicted of killing 20-year-old Dion Patrick Roach in Grand Bahama when the Freeport Supreme Court determined that he had shot Mr Roach at an apartment complex on October 23, 1992.

He was sentenced to death in 1998 and his attempts at appealing his conviction were dismissed by the Court of Appeal and the Privy Council.

However, he won a landmark case when he challenged the court’s mandatory death penalty for convicted murderers in 2002 after the Privy Council determined that automatic capital punishment for murders was a breach of international human rights.

He was eventually re-sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison.

Lawyer Keod Smith, who represented Bowe during proceedings into Mr Bowles’ killing, expressed sadness and shock at the news of Bowe’s death yesterday, saying that the convicted killer always proclaimed his innocence and looked forward to being with his family.