Body Of Ohio Teen Exhumed In 1960s Case

TOLEDO, Ohio—The body of an Ohio teenager killed more than 40 years ago was recently exhumed, revealing new evidence in the case against a former fugitive accused in her death, authorities said.

Prosecutors declined to describe the nature of the new evidence. But because of the discovery, a Lucas County judge agreed Wednesday to push back the trial of Robert Bowman from Jan. 25 to March 22.

Bowman, 73, is accused of kidnapping, raping and killing 14-year-old Eileen Adams after she stepped off a city bus on Dec. 18, 1967. Her body was found in a field six weeks later near Monroe, Mich.

Assistant prosecutor J. Christopher Anderson said authorities determined they needed to exhume Adams’ body because the medical examiner who conducted the initial autopsy on the girl has since died.

A new forensic anthropologist will be involved in the case, he said.

Bowman had been a suspect in the case since 1981, when his ex-wife connected him to the case, saying she had found Eileen Adams tied up in their basement weeks after she disappeared. She said she confronted her husband and he then vowed to kill the girl and threatened to kill her, too, if she called police.

In 1981, prosecutors decided there wasn’t enough evidence to bring charges.

Bowman was charged three years ago when authorities reopened the case and concluded that DNA evidence on the victim linked him to the crime. He was profiled on the “America’s Most Wanted.“

He was arrested in 2008 in Cathedral City, Calif., after two investigators spotted him.

Bowman’s attorneys have filed a motion to dismiss the case.

In the motion, attorneys Pete Rost and Jane Roman contend that spousal privilege would come into play because Bowman’s now ex-wife was an integral part of the evidence.

Prosecutors countered that because she did not testify before the grand jury, privilege doesn’t come into play.