PA PA - Terrence 'Terry' Bowers, 11, Chester County, 26 April 1970

[Filly]

Terry Bowers was an 11 year old Boy Scout in Troop 275 from Darby's Blessed Mary Virgin Parish. He was found stabbed to death in his tent on the morning of April 26, 1970.



http://www.philly.com/philly/news/2...y_Scout_murder__but_it_s_still_a_mystery.html

There is new evidence in this case. The "Boy Scout Perversion files" come into play and at one time a confession. The Catholic Church is not excluded and a Philadelphia cop who is now an RSO even figured in at one point.

Terry Bowers family has never given up on finding out who murdered their loved one.

My prayers and much sympathy for this dear family. I was a little too young to remember this. RIP Terry.

 

[Filly]

Another article from 19991.

Poor Mrs. Bowers.



http://articles.philly.com/1991-12-09/news/25812140_1_murder-case-valley-forge-council-embreeville/2

 

[Filly]

The man that confessed at one time to the murder of Terry Bowers is in the Perversion files.


Lawrence Wakely

http://phoenixville.patch.com/articles/phoenixville-man-named-in-boy-scout-s-perversion-files

He's in prison.

 

[Indigator]

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/2...y_Scout_murder__but_it_s_still_a_mystery.html

Police said that Bowers had been stabbed four times with a small blade about 6:30 a.m. He was in his green sleeping bag while camping in an open field - about 200 yards from the church buildings - with 29 other members of his troop. His body was discovered about an hour later.
The investigation was hexed from the beginning. By the time State Police Sgt. James Wenner arrived, the body had been moved and parents were on the scene.

 

[KarlK]

At first glance this does not appear to be sexually motivated, at least not directly. The time at which it occurred also hints that it wasn't the result of an argument otherwise the others would have heard something in that quiet atmosphere. Despite what LE says about Wakely an act of revenge against the whole orginization would be the best scenario to explain the apparent random nature of the attack. Let's think outside the box a little: if we make a distinction between "victim" and "target" then the crime is much easier to comprehend, if not solve. A victim (Terry) is chosen at random to take one for the team, the team -in this case Scouts- being the ultimate target.

Personally I side with the courts and don't put any scientific value in polygraph tests. I think they are just as worthless in proving one is innocent as they are the other way. Wakely so far provides the one and only scenario that makes sense and it should be pursued, in my opinion.I am aware that it would be difficult to obtain a conviction so many years after the fact, even if Wakely confesses 100 times. But it may bring up enough evidence to provide closure to Terry's family. Besides Wakely is already in jail.

 

[kemo]

An interesting case. Not a lot of critical information.

Does anyone have any info concerning the following?

1) How many boys were camping out at that time?
2) were the boys in tents or sleeping "under the stars" and if they were in tents, was Terry alone or did he have a "tent-mate"?
3) What was the layout of the encampmnet", i.e. where did the boys sleep in relation to each other, to the perimeter of the property and to any access points?

What I am getting at is whether Terry was specifically targeted or was he just the first or easiest boy to "get to"?

 

[KarlK]

2) were the boys in tents or sleeping "under the stars" and if they were in tents, was Terry alone or did he have a "tent-mate"?

The thread title mentions a tent, which is very likely because in April in the Northeast night time temps can still dip below freezing. I don't think most parents would be willing to let a kid that age sleep outdoors without basic shelter.

I just assumed he was alone in the tent because otherwise one would think the article would have mentioned such a potentially formidable witness as a tent mate. For a few seconds I thought perhaps he had been pulled out of the tent like those girls in a similar case out West but I don't think even a large adult could grab an 11 year-old boy from a tent without a struggle that would have alerted people nearby.

 

[Indigator]

Thanks for the great questions, fellow sleuthers (is that a word)? There were approx. 30 people, mostly children aged 12-14 at the campsite. There were a few tents where the kids slept, several to a tent and an leader tent where the adults slept. The boys wanted to "sleep under the stars" so they were arranged in a circular fashion around the campfire. Some kids woke during the night and went into the tents to get warm. In the morning, Terri was found half in and half out of his sleeping bag, covered in blood. There were kids within feet of him. One child reported that he saw Terri awake at some point in the night, huddled near the fire. No one reported hearing anything.

 

[Indigator]

Also, it was determined that he was attacked within an hour of being found.

 

[Indigator]

Another archived article from 1970
http://delawarecolib.newspaperarchi...true&src=search&currentResult=0&currentPage=0

 

[Indigator]

http://delawarecolib.newspaperarchi...true&src=search&currentResult=3&currentPage=0

 

[Richrd]

Terry Bowers, 11, Chester County, Kimberton, 26 April 1970


https://www.facebook.com/PAStatePolice/?hc_ref=PAGES_TIMELINE&fref=nf :

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/2...y_Scout_murder__but_it_s_still_a_mystery.html

https://patch.com/pennsylvania/phoenixville/phoenixville-man-named-in-boy-scout-s-perversion-files:

ReportS for RSO / Registered Sex Offender
Lawrence Wakely:

https://www.pameganslaw.state.pa.us/Reports/ReportViewer.aspx?ReportType=OffenderPublicRpt
&
https://ujsportal.pacourts.us/DocketSheets/CPReport.ashx?docketNumber=CP-15-CR-0001764-1991

 

[TMAN2014]

Never heard of this story. This happened about a few miles from me, where I grew up inside the city. Darby is right on the outskirts of the SW side of Philly. BVM Church is huge right as you drive down route 13. I still don't know where they were camping. There must be a field next to the church? You know, at that time, it seemed like you were safer walking the streets as a kid. I guess not. I guess it was just as dangerous back then, but we just didn't know it.

 

[TMAN2014]

I am confused reading this. This murder happened in Darby (Delaware County) or Chester County, 30 miles away?

Any way, if Wakely confesses, why not believe him? Why would he falsely confess to this crime?

 

[Hippononymous]

I am confused reading this. This murder happened in Darby (Delaware County) or Chester County, 30 miles away?

It happened in Kimberton, which is in Chester County.

6 ABC ActionNews is doing a special report on this case tonight: https://www.facebook.com/6abcDannCuellar/posts/10154760874773425


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ChuckMaureen]

http://www.delcotimes.com/general-n...-unsolved-murder-in-1970?source=topstoriesrot

 

[reintarnation]

A few newer articles I found on the case are linked below. It looks like the family and neighborhood are not giving up on this. The more I read, the more I see suspicions about LE cover up and something to do with the Catholic church.

UPDATE: Reward fund now at $51,000 in Darby Boy Scout’s unsolved murder in 1970
April 20, 2017
Delaware County Daily Times / Rose Quinn
http://www.delcotimes.com/article/DC/20170420/NEWS/170429969

47 years later, Boy Scout’s death remains a mystery
April 25, 2017
ABC 6 / Dann Cuellar
http://6abc.com/news/47-years-later-boy-scouts-death-remains-a-mystery/1917203/

“Although Bowers was found naked from the waist down, the medical examiner determined that he had not been sexually assaulted. Still, police cannot rule out that someone was attempting to sexually assault Bowers.”

 

[dotr]

http://www.delcotimes.com/article/DC/20170420/NEWS/170429969

[h=1]Reward fund now at $51,000 in Darby Boy Scout’s unsolved murder in 1970[/h]

Terrence Bowers

By Rose Quinn, Delaware County Daily Times

Posted: 04/20/17,

This month marks 47 years since 11-year-old Terrence Bowers was fatally stabbed while on a Boy Scout camping trip in Chester County. Pennsylvania State Police said the investigation into the Darby Borough boy’s death has never closed and this week, in recognition of the anniversary, troopers revived a request for any information from the public that might shed new light on the decades-old mystery.



“I still know people who were on that camping trip,” said Brown, who was a year behind Bowers at Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Grade School in Darby Borough. “And his mother, all she wants is justice for her son, and rightly so.”

Terrence Bowers, who had been a member of Boy Scout Troop 275 for about year, was camping on the grounds of St. Basil the Great Roman Catholic Church in East Pikeland Township with 23 other scouts and six adult leaders, all members of Troop 275 from the Blessed Virgin Mary parish. They left for the campsite, an open field near a creek about 200 yards from the church building, on April 24, 1970.



In the early hours of Sunday, April 26, Bowers was attacked in his sleep, suffering four stab wounds with a small, one-edged knife, according to Daily Times archived reports. The pajama-clad boy was found in his green sleeping bag by fellow scouts at 7:30 a.m. The medical examiner believed the boy died an hour prior, about 6:30 a.m. He suffered wounds to his back, right arm and chest

.

In the days and weeks after the murder, hundreds of people in northern Chester County and in Darby Borough were interviewed by a six-man state police investigation team, under the direction of then-Sgt. James Wenner. Young Boy Scouts from the victim’s troop were even hooked up to polygraph machines and interrogated. A weapon was never recovered, despite three searches with metal detectors.



“All the scouts and leaders were given polygraph tests, and all their stories as to their whereabouts at the time of the slaying were verified,” the Daily Times reported at the time. Patients from nearby Pennhurst State Hospital and Valley Forge Military Hospital who were AWOL or out on passes were also investigated.

In the summer of 1977, Wenner told the Daily Times that one of the most puzzling things about the Bowers case is that no motive was ever established for the slaying.



Wenner said another perplexing thing about the case is that despite the fact that 26 other scouts and two adult leaders slept only a few feet away, no one apparently heard any disturbance.

Anyone with information is asked to contact state police at 610-486-6280, or PA Crime Stoppers Toll-Free at 1-800-4PA-TIPS. All callers can remain anonymous and could be eligible for the cash reward.

 

[dotr]

Sorry, started a double thread.
Correct thread.
http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...mberton-26-April-1970&p=13556216#post13556216

 

[dotr]

http://www.delcotimes.com/article/DC...NEWS/170429969
Reward fund now at $51,000 in Darby Boy Scout’s unsolved murder in 1970

Terrence Bowers
By Rose Quinn, Delaware County Daily Times

Posted: 04/20/17,

This month marks 47 years since 11-year-old Terrence Bowers was fatally stabbed while on a Boy Scout camping trip in Chester County. Pennsylvania State Police said the investigation into the Darby Borough boy’s death has never closed and this week, in recognition of the anniversary, troopers revived a request for any information from the public that might shed new light on the decades-old mystery.

Terrence Bowers, who had been a member of Boy Scout Troop 275 for about year, was camping on the grounds of St. Basil the Great Roman Catholic Church in East Pikeland Township with 23 other scouts and six adult leaders, all members of Troop 275 from the Blessed Virgin Mary parish. They left for the campsite, an open field near a creek about 200 yards from the church building, on April 24, 1970.

In the early hours of Sunday, April 26, Bowers was attacked in his sleep, suffering four stab wounds with a small, one-edged knife, according to Daily Times archived reports. The pajama-clad boy was found in his green sleeping bag by fellow scouts at 7:30 a.m. The medical examiner believed the boy died an hour prior, about 6:30 a.m. He suffered wounds to his back, right arm and chest

.

In the days and weeks after the murder, hundreds of people in northern Chester County and in Darby Borough were interviewed by a six-man state police investigation team, under the direction of then-Sgt. James Wenner. Young Boy Scouts from the victim’s troop were even hooked up to polygraph machines and interrogated. A weapon was never recovered, despite three searches with metal detectors.

“All the scouts and leaders were given polygraph tests, and all their stories as to their whereabouts at the time of the slaying were verified,” the Daily Times reported at the time. Patients from nearby Pennhurst State Hospital and Valley Forge Military Hospital who were AWOL or out on passes were also investigated

.

In the summer of 1977, Wenner told the Daily Times that one of the most puzzling things about the Bowers case is that no motive was ever established for the slaying.

Wenner said another perplexing thing about the case is that despite the fact that 26 other scouts and two adult leaders slept only a few feet away, no one apparently heard any disturbance.

Anyone with information is asked to contact state police at 610-486-6280, or PA Crime Stoppers Toll-Free at 1-800-4PA-TIPS. All callers can remain anonymous and could be eligible for the cash reward.