Convicted murderer Forrester Bowe Jr., whose case led to a landmark decision in 2006 declaring the mandatory death sentence unconstitutional, was found dead in his cell at Her Majesty’s Prisons (HMP) early yesterday, prison officials said. In a statement, HMP Superintendent Patrick Wright, commissioner of correction services, said Bowe was found unresponsive in his cell when roll call occurred at around 6:50 a.m. He said the prison’s medical officer examined Bowe and pronounced him dead at 7:45 a.m.. He said the matter has been turned over to the police and the coroner. Bowe was sentenced to death for the 1992 murder of Dion Roach, 20, on Grand Bahama. His case and that of Trono Davis led to the Privy Council ruling that the mandatory death sentence is unconstitutional. The mandatory death sentence imposed on Bowe was quashed and the case was remitted to the Supreme Court for sentencing. The Supreme Court resentenced Bowe to life imprisonment. Bowe was also one of the inmates believed to be at the heart of a deadly prison break in January 2006. Bowe, Barry Parcoi and Corey Hepburn were accused of murdering prison guard Dion Bowles during that incident. The three men were expected to be tried on November 20, 2015 for Bowles’ death. A coroner’s jury that investigated the circumstances of Bowles’ death recommended that the men face murder charges. They were also accused of injuring guards Kenneth Sweeting and David Armbrister during the prison break. A fourth man, murder convict Neil Brown, was shot dead during his capture. In light of the Privy Council’s ruling, Parliament amended the Penal Code in 2011, setting out the circumstances that would warrant the death penalty. Those included the murder of a member of the police force, a prison officer, a member of the defence force, a judicial officer, a witness, the murder of a person during the course of a felony or the murder of more than one person. In June, the Court of Appeal determined that the murder of a policeman by itself does override the right to life. Its ruling was in reference to Mario Flowers. He was sentenced to death for the December 29, 2007 murder of Constable Ramos Williams. A judge yesterday sentenced Flowers to 29 years in prison. The Privy Council set the standard for the imposition of the death penalty as the “worst of the worst” and a determination that an offender was beyond reform.
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 09:56:58 +0000
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