VA VA - Trooper Johnny Bowman, 31, Manassas, 19 Aug 1984

[dotr]

https://www.wric.com/news/northern-virginia/decades-old-of-virginia-state-trooper-remains-unsolved-vsp-continues-to-pursue-leads/

by: Julia Broberg Posted: Aug 19, 2024
''According to a post from VSP, on the morning of Monday, Aug. 19, 1984, Bowman was stabbed repeatedly by an unknown person after he answered the front door of his Manassas-area residence. The attackers fled the scene on foot, and Bowman’s wife — who was there during the attack — called 911.''

''The involved law enforcement agencies are currently asking anyone with information to contact the Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation Fairfax Division at 703-803-2676 or [email protected]. The FBI can also be contacted at 1-800-225-5324.''

https://twitter.com/x/status/1825578913600311493

 

[Starlight0824]

I'm new to the site but I have been researching this case for about two years and only updates I can find are regarding DNA that could have been left on the glasses, wig or hard hat. However, those articles are from 2014-2018 anyone know of any new information?

 

[monstertruckyeti]

I am extremely close to Bowman’s daughter and her and I genuinely believe that her mother, Terri (Bowman’s wife), knows something and won’t speak up. Possibly because she had something to do with the murder. Some very strange statements have been made by Terri regarding the murder over the years and have been made as recently as a month ago.

 

[monstertruckyeti]

I was a police officer in VA when this happened and remember it well. As the news article quoted above indicated a fellow trooper was the original suspect and my still be. Investigators felt they did not have enough evidence to charge him. I believe this is the only unsolved killing of a VA State Trooper in the Deprtment's history.

@TedMac any chance you can cite any source stating they didn’t fee they had enough evidence?

 

[monstertruckyeti]

I'm new to the site but I have been researching this case for about two years and only updates I can find are regarding DNA that could have been left on the glasses, wig or hard hat. However, those articles are from 2014-2018 anyone know of any new information?

@Starlight0824 any chance you can link me to the articles you have found?

 

[TedMac]

@TedMac any chance you can cite any source stating they didn’t fee they had enough evidence?

Just the news article previously listed. I remember the trooper in question was placed on leave immediately when he became a suspect. I don't know if he worked any more as a trooper.

 

[dotr]

• Sep 25, 2018
• 
  
• FBI offers $50,000 reward for arrest in stabbing death of Manassas trooper
• 2018
• 

  Investigators hope DNA leads to state trooper's killer

  Thirty years ago, Virginia State Police Trooper Johnny Rush Bowman was stabbed to death at his Manassas home.

  www.insidenova.com
• ''The FBI conducted tests on forensic evidence submitted to their lab in 1984 and the items were retested in the late 1990s and in 2010, police said.
  
  “As a result of the latest testing by the FBI, new information regarding DNA found at the scene has generated extra information for investigators,” state police said in their news release.''

Sep 24, 2018
Nikki Bowman, daughter of Virginia State Police Trooper Johnny Bowman, who was killed in 1984, is asking the public for information that might help solve her father's murder.

 

[dotr]

May 24, 1987

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1987/05/25/trooper-slaying-mystery/517f9bd2-23d8-4816-8389-745dd29292d0/

''The suspect, according to law enforcement sources, is Perry L. Worrell, a 32-year-old Dumfries, Va., man who was placed on an unpaid leave of absence shortly after the Bowman slaying.

Efforts to contact Worrell, who one law enforcement source called a "walking time bomb," have been unsuccessful. His telephone number apparently has been changed and is now unpublished, and his attorney, Philip J. Hirshkop, said Worrell is under instructions not to talk to reporters.

Worrell, who was struck by a car in an unrelated incident in November, has had several operations, is "severely incapacitated" and unable to work, Hirschkop added.
Hirschkop said that Worrell and Bowman were "very close friends" and that he knows of "no impropriety and no motive" for the slaying. Hirschkop has also said his client "absolutely swears he has nothing to do with the murder of this state trooper."

Worrell is no longer a member of the state police. Police officials would not say whether he was fired or retired of his own accord, or whether he is collecting benefits from the state. "He's just not a member of our department anymore," said Capt. Paul C. Hollandsworth of the state police. "To get into any details would require a release from him."

On the 40th Anniversary of Trooper Bowman’s Murder, It’s Time for Justice

Tragedy struck the small town of Manassas, Virginia, on August 19, 1984, when Virginia State Trooper Johnny Rush Bowman, 31,

www.lawofficer.com

2024 lengthy.

On the 40th Anniversary of Trooper Bowman’s Murder, It’s Time for Justice

Tragedy struck the small town of Manassas, Virginia, on August 19, 1984, when Virginia State Trooper Johnny Rush Bowman, 31,

www.lawofficer.com

''According to investigators, “the first blow to Bowman’s chest punctured the pulmonary artery. But the wounds were also in the neck, the face, the stomach, [and] a shoulder. A large number of the wounds were bunched together on one side of his back, where, police say, the killer, in a frenzy, stabbed Bowman repeatedly after he had fallen to the ground in a fetal position.”

According to the Washington Post, W.T. Poindexter, an investigator who photographed the scene, described it as follows: “‘You want to know what it was like? If you can imagine being able to take pure, unadulterated rage out of a paper bag and throw it into a four-or five-foot-square area and locking the door for five minutes — that’s what the scene was like.’”

The trooper’s wife, Terri Lee Bowman, had been downstairs when the doorbell rang. She pleaded with Bowman not to answer the door, then heard the attacker state he was with “the power company.” The entire episode took place in pitch darkness.''

''Residents would have referred to NOVEC as “the electric” or “the electric company” in 1984. The assailant’s wording that he was with the “power company” may indicate that maintaining “power” over the victim might have been the driving force in the violent attack, which was literally overkill.''

 

[dream_sweet96]

// Known Facts //

Date of Attack: August 19, 1984
Time of Attack: 4:15 AM
Method: Repeated stabbing by 4-inch knife, possibly folding knife. Number of stab wounds between 42 - 45. An early stab hit pulmonary artery.
Location: Bristoe Station town house on Patterson Place in Manassas, VA.
Victim: Johnny Rush Bowman. 31 yr old white male, 6'2," Marine Corps veteran, Virginia State Trooper.
Witnesses: Wife, Brother, Sister-in-law, and young daughter.
The scene of the attack: Threshold of front door and foyer. Victim had been sleeping upstairs in bedroom, came down steps to answer doorbell. Lights were not turned on.
Assailant: Adult Male with enough strength to push through door. Knowledge of how to use handheld edged weapon. Ability to use edged weapon repeatedly on young, tall and well trained adult man. Ability to run on foot. Spoke English. Ability to plan and procure items for disguise.

// Reasonable Assumptions //

>>Assailant was probably an adult male between the ages of 20 - 50 yrs old. Physically strong. Possibly similar height and build as Victim.

>>Based on the discovery of costuming items: Assailant planned the attack. Premeditated. Felt need for disguise. Feared detection. Possibly held fantasies of vengeance. Indications of familiarity with the role of a power company representative. Planned to escape.

>>Based on selection of weapon: Assailant had intense need for control. Desire to inflict suffering. Lack of empathy. Extreme confidence. Possible rehearsal. Familiarity with the location or victims. Sense of inadequacy. Lack of social standing. Possible lack of access to arms.

>>Based on the selection of scene and victim: Assailant attacked the home. Wanted sense of intimacy. Betrayal of feeling safe at home. Possible history of PTSD. Chose to ambush victim. Deeply troubled. Selected time that would be reasonable to assume that the Victim would be unprepared. Possible lie in wait. Possible surveillance of house.

>>Based on the assailant announcing his presence, ringing doorbell, and use of expletives: Attempt at "pseudocommando" persona. Highly aggressive. Initiated attack. Desire to dominate. Fear of inadequacy. Predatory mindset. Anti-social behavior. Narcissism. Perceived sense of grievance. Highly personal agenda of revenge. Intense feelings of persecution.

>>Based on flight by foot: Familiarity with the area. Desire to escape to areas not accessible by car. Possible knowledge of nearby railroad tracks and/or quarry.

 

[dream_sweet96]

''Residents would have referred to NOVEC as “the electric” or “the electric company” in 1984. The assailant’s wording that he was with the “power company” may indicate that maintaining “power” over the victim might have been the driving force in the violent attack, which was literally overkill.''

Wow! I didn't pick up on that initially. Growing up, our utilities were through Dominion Power so although we would normally call it "Dominion" it didn't strike me as odd to also hear it as "the power company." It looks like the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) also supports that people from the mid-Atlantic region would not have called it "the power company" back then.

I wonder if this was a slip as you suggested, or if could have been the assailant giving away their background as a child raised in a western state?