This website is intended to deal with murder, brutality, corruption and hatred—all falling under what we call acts of injustice. We tell the stories of open and unsolved homicides–what are called “cold” cases. We also memorialize those whose lives have been taken from them in hope that somebody will come forward to tell the truth. So far our efforts center on Michigan.
That’s the way Jim Fairbanks put it when we made our first film, Who Killed Janet Chandler? Detective Fairbanks (retired) was the lead investigator on the law enforcement team in 1979. What he had to say then still applies today. For nearly every unsolved homicide there is somebody out there who could solve it if she or he would come forward and make a contact.
To call an unsolved homicide a “cold” case is chilling in its own right. Yes, these unsolved cases grow “cold” because there are no new leads; they more or less drop off the social and cultural radar. But they are NEVER “cold” to the family members and friends, they are never forgotten or out of mind. And there is always the hope that justice, however delayed, will be served.
We invite you to visit the We Remember part of this site, a place where families and friends of those whose murders remain unsolved contact us and can help to post details of the victims’ lives and the resultant investigations.
We also invite your view of what we are calling a Primary Documentary Investigation as we tell the story of the murder of Mina Dekker.
Our hope in all the cases we chronicle is that somebody who knows something will say something.
He was a monster. After raping and killing Janet he went on to attack another woman some years later. As in Janet’s case, he used a belt to strangle her and, after raping her, left her for dead. When he was sentenced that woman drove from the south, Ohio maybe, and tried to get to the Grand Haven courtroom in time to see him come to justice. The roads were slippery and she was involved in a car crash. Still, she managed to get there, but too late to witness the sentencing. All that took great courage.
Harry Dean Keith, involved in the 1979 murder of Janet Chandler, has died. We learned of his March 17 death from a reader. His testimony during the trial helped to advance the cases against the six who were charged. (Two pled and four were convicted.) You can view it here. There was plenty more that he knew that he took to the grave. It’s my assessment that he could have been much more helpful.
This from Amanda M. Howie, the director of communications at the Office of the Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney:
Dennis Lee Bowman (Date of Birth: 3/14/49) pleaded guilty in Norfolk Circuit Court this afternoon to 1 count of First Degree Murder, 1 count of Rape, and 1 count of Burglary. He was also sentenced today for the convictions to life in prison on both First Degree Murder and Rape and 20 years in prison for Burglary. Today’s convictions and total sentence (2 life terms plus 20 years in prison to be served consecutively) reflect the unwavering commitment of the Norfolk Police Department, Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), and Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office to pursue and secure justice – for nearly 40 years – for the woman Bowman killed and her many loved ones left to cherish her memory.
Kathleen O’Brien Doyle, 25-years-old, was found murdered in her Norfolk residence (9400 block of Granby Street) on September 11, 1980. She was the wife of a United States Navy pilot, who was deployed at the time of the homicide, and the daughter of a naval officer also serving in the United States Navy. Her murder was investigated for 39 years with the unyielding work of detectives, along with forensic evidence, culminating in the arrest of Bowman in November 2019 in Allegan County, Michigan, where he now lived. At that time, he was charged with 1 count of Second Degree Murder for Doyle’s murder and he remained in custody in Michigan until he was extradited to Norfolk in February 2020. On March 4, 2020, the Grand Jury in Norfolk Circuit Court indicted (via direct indictments presented by the Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office) Bowman on 1 count of First Degree Murder, 1 count of Rape, and 1 count of Burglary. (Following these indictments, the Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office nolle prossed the 1 count of Second Degree Murder in Norfolk General District Court.)
At today’s hearing, Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Philip G. Evans II spoke of how Kathleen’s father spent the rest of his life in regular communication with detectives to help ensure his daughter’s killer was identified and found. Sadly, he died in 2016, so today Mr. Evans told the Court he was reading “on his behalf, in his honor, and in her memory” words Kathleen’s father previously wrote while remembering her – “Though her pictures are all around me – on my desk and on the wall – I find it hard to describe Kathleen. My descriptive powers are simply inadequate to portray all her special qualities.”
Michigan has a detainer in place on Bowman and he will ultimately be returned to Allegan County (remaining in custody) where he was charged in May 2020 with charges related to the murder of his adopted daughter, Aundria Bowman, whom he adopted when he lived in Norfolk. Aundria Bowman was 14-years-old when she disappeared from the family’s home in March 1989.
The Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office also appreciates the assistance of several public safety and criminal justice agencies in Michigan with the investigation and prosecution of this case.
He has already admitted to police that he killed his adopted daughter, referenced above as Aundria Bowman. The name her biological mother gave her was Alexis Miranda Badger.
She was Alexis. She is Alexis.
This cases hinges on DNA evidence, and thereby hangs a tale, not all oof which is mine to tell. But here is a description of the investigation and the outcome through the court paperwork.
Another long-time-in-coming result…this time in the August 5, 2006 murder of Renee Pagel.
Her husband, Michael was arrested in February and charged in masterminding the murder of his wife.
Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker and Sheriff Michelle Lajoye-Young, released a joint statement that read, in part: “It is gratifying to see him finally accept some responsibility for her murder for which he has been a suspect since the very beginning. The children of Michael and Renee were consulted before considering a plea offer, and we decided on this course of action based on their response and approval.”
A trial, they noted, would have been “extraordinarily difficult for this family.”
Michael Pagel alleges in his guilty plea that he convinced his brother to kill Renee, stabbing her to death in the couples’ Courtland Township home.
Investigators are not so sure about the brothers involvement. The statement continued:
“We were aware of the possibility that Michael Pagel may implicate others in the actual murder when he gave a factual basis for his plea. At this time, it is important to note that we are not aware of any independent evidence that can corroborate the statements Mr. Pagel made today.
“If Mr. Pagel wants to provide his version of events to the investigative team, they will listen to him, and follow up if he has any evidence to support his claim. This (prosecuting attorney) office and the Kent County Sheriff’s Department are committed to holding any person involved in Renee’s murder responsible for their actions. The statement of a defendant alone, with nothing more to support his version of events, is not enough by itself to charge anyone, with any crime. Without any supporting evidence, it is merely a statement of a man perhaps trying to save face in admitting his guilt in the murder of his wife, and should be treated as such.”
Finding her remains was the first step to a finish. When police did that in February–excavating and revealing skeletal remains beneath a concrete slab– it was just a matter of time. Of course, 31 years has been a lot of time but a mother’s love and the determination of law enforcement were a combination that even this evil could not withstand.
And now Dennis Lee Bowman has been charged with murder, first-degree child abuse and mutilation of a body for allegedly killing his adopted daughter, known as Aundria Bowman. She was Alexis Miranda Badger to her birth mother, Cathy Terkanian. Here is the story of how she came to be Dennis Bowman’s adopted daughter.
Dennis Bowman is in Virginia just now, the only suspect in the 1980 murder of Kathleen O’Brien Doyle, a 25-year-old daughter of a naval officer and wife of a deployed U.S. Navy pilot. He will be returned to Michigan to stand trial in Alexis’ murder.
