Post by CCADP on Aug 23, 2005 6:24:15 GMT -5
Fayette man charged in woman's death
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Donna and Abraham Lincoln with granddaughter Jamie Lynn Rankin
Sean Stipp/Tribune-Review
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April Lynn Lincoln with daughter, Jamie Lynn Rankin
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Eric L. Bowser
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By Chris Foreman
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Most of the photos of April Lynn Lincoln were missing Monday from the walls of her mother's home.
Instead of sharing space with pictures of Donna Leadbeater Lincoln's four other children, they were on display last night at a Fayette County funeral home.
After a crushing break-up last winter and a two-week stint in drug rehab this spring, April Lincoln was intent on setting goals and returning to church, her family said yesterday. The 20-year-old Martin, Nicholson Township, woman wanted to earn her GED so she could have a job that would support her 2-year-old daughter, Jamie Lynn Rankin.
"That's her story right there," said April Lincoln's uncle, Keith Leadbeater, as he gestured toward Jamie. "That's her life. She was only 20 years old and (Jamie) was her life."
State police at Uniontown have charged Eric L. Bowser with killing April Lincoln on Aug. 7 and leaving her half-naked body beneath rocks in Redstone Creek in North Union Township. Her body wasn't found until Aug. 17, when two people walking along the creek spotted it under a railroad trestle.
Forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht, of Pittsburgh, ruled last week that April Lincoln died from blunt force trauma to her skull. Besides her injury, the body was so badly decomposed that her family said they were unable to have an open casket for calling hours.
At a news conference at the police barracks yesterday, Fayette County District Attorney Nancy Vernon said investigators have approached the incident as a first-degree murder case. However, they will consider any aggravating circumstances to determine if the case could merit the death penalty if Bowser is found guilty at trial.
Bowser, 30, of 148 Bennington Road, Hopwood, also is charged with abuse of a corpse.
During an interview with police on Saturday, Bowser said he and April Lincoln had sex near the creek on Aug. 7, according to the criminal complaint. Earlier that night, Bowser, April Lincoln and three men were drinking and smoking crack cocaine at a Uniontown home, police said.
After Bowser and April Lincoln stopped having sex, she approached him and he pushed her away. April Lincoln's legs then went out from beneath her and her head struck a rock, Bowser told Trooper Scott Krofcheck.
District Judge Mark Blair, of Uniontown, scheduled a preliminary hearing for Aug. 29.
Fayette County court records show Bowser pleaded guilty in 1999 to possessing drug paraphernalia and in 2004 to theft and receiving stolen property.
April Lincoln's family said they don't know Bowser or how she met him. In reporting her as missing earlier this month, they told state police she went to Uniontown with a friend on Aug. 6 and was expected home that evening or early the next morning.
Donna Lincoln said her daughter wasn't the type to disappear for days. She contacted police after April Lincoln had been gone for 72 hours, but said it took three visits by officers before they issued a media release on Aug. 17 -- less than 12 hours before the body was found.
A forensic dental specialist was able to identify April Lincoln by studying her lower jaw, which had a metal plate with four screws from an injury she suffered in a 1998 car crash.
The young mother's time was devoted to Jamie, Donna Lincoln said. Recently, she said, April Lincoln taught Jamie how to spell her own name and she planned to take the girl to several amusement parks before the end of the summer.
"She loved her baby," Donna Lincoln said. "You can ask the neighbors. She was outside with her all day, every day."
Her family said she enjoyed returning home after receiving treatment for a drug problem she picked up from an old boyfriend, whom Donna Lincoln said broke her daughter's heart.
April Lincoln also was coming to terms with an Aug. 5 court order allowing Jamie's father, who lives in Pittsburgh, to have partial custody on alternating weekends.
"She wanted help," Keith Leadbeater said. "She knew she needed help, but this is where we're just wondering how it all blew up on her again."
Chris Foreman can be reached at cforeman@tribweb.com or 724-425-2338.
Photo Gallery
click to enlarge
Donna and Abraham Lincoln with granddaughter Jamie Lynn Rankin
Sean Stipp/Tribune-Review
click to enlarge
April Lynn Lincoln with daughter, Jamie Lynn Rankin
Submitted
Eric L. Bowser
Tools Print this article
E-mail this article
Subscribe to this paper
Larger / Smaller Text
By Chris Foreman
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, August 23, 2005
Most of the photos of April Lynn Lincoln were missing Monday from the walls of her mother's home.
Instead of sharing space with pictures of Donna Leadbeater Lincoln's four other children, they were on display last night at a Fayette County funeral home.
After a crushing break-up last winter and a two-week stint in drug rehab this spring, April Lincoln was intent on setting goals and returning to church, her family said yesterday. The 20-year-old Martin, Nicholson Township, woman wanted to earn her GED so she could have a job that would support her 2-year-old daughter, Jamie Lynn Rankin.
"That's her story right there," said April Lincoln's uncle, Keith Leadbeater, as he gestured toward Jamie. "That's her life. She was only 20 years old and (Jamie) was her life."
State police at Uniontown have charged Eric L. Bowser with killing April Lincoln on Aug. 7 and leaving her half-naked body beneath rocks in Redstone Creek in North Union Township. Her body wasn't found until Aug. 17, when two people walking along the creek spotted it under a railroad trestle.
Forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril Wecht, of Pittsburgh, ruled last week that April Lincoln died from blunt force trauma to her skull. Besides her injury, the body was so badly decomposed that her family said they were unable to have an open casket for calling hours.
At a news conference at the police barracks yesterday, Fayette County District Attorney Nancy Vernon said investigators have approached the incident as a first-degree murder case. However, they will consider any aggravating circumstances to determine if the case could merit the death penalty if Bowser is found guilty at trial.
Bowser, 30, of 148 Bennington Road, Hopwood, also is charged with abuse of a corpse.
During an interview with police on Saturday, Bowser said he and April Lincoln had sex near the creek on Aug. 7, according to the criminal complaint. Earlier that night, Bowser, April Lincoln and three men were drinking and smoking crack cocaine at a Uniontown home, police said.
After Bowser and April Lincoln stopped having sex, she approached him and he pushed her away. April Lincoln's legs then went out from beneath her and her head struck a rock, Bowser told Trooper Scott Krofcheck.
District Judge Mark Blair, of Uniontown, scheduled a preliminary hearing for Aug. 29.
Fayette County court records show Bowser pleaded guilty in 1999 to possessing drug paraphernalia and in 2004 to theft and receiving stolen property.
April Lincoln's family said they don't know Bowser or how she met him. In reporting her as missing earlier this month, they told state police she went to Uniontown with a friend on Aug. 6 and was expected home that evening or early the next morning.
Donna Lincoln said her daughter wasn't the type to disappear for days. She contacted police after April Lincoln had been gone for 72 hours, but said it took three visits by officers before they issued a media release on Aug. 17 -- less than 12 hours before the body was found.
A forensic dental specialist was able to identify April Lincoln by studying her lower jaw, which had a metal plate with four screws from an injury she suffered in a 1998 car crash.
The young mother's time was devoted to Jamie, Donna Lincoln said. Recently, she said, April Lincoln taught Jamie how to spell her own name and she planned to take the girl to several amusement parks before the end of the summer.
"She loved her baby," Donna Lincoln said. "You can ask the neighbors. She was outside with her all day, every day."
Her family said she enjoyed returning home after receiving treatment for a drug problem she picked up from an old boyfriend, whom Donna Lincoln said broke her daughter's heart.
April Lincoln also was coming to terms with an Aug. 5 court order allowing Jamie's father, who lives in Pittsburgh, to have partial custody on alternating weekends.
"She wanted help," Keith Leadbeater said. "She knew she needed help, but this is where we're just wondering how it all blew up on her again."
Chris Foreman can be reached at cforeman@tribweb.com or 724-425-2338.