'Iraq War Hero' Dismembers/Cooks Girlfriend, Kills Self (note found)

[truthpusher]

Grisly New Orleans Murder Mystery Takes Another Twist

Man Suspected of Killing and Mutilating His Girlfriend Before Killing Himself Was an Iraq War Hero



By MARCUS BARAM

Oct. 20, 2006 — - New Orleans is still reeling from news this week that a bartender reportedly strangled his girlfriend, dismembered her body, and cooked some of the body parts on his stove before jumping to his death.

Now, it turns out, he was an Iraq war hero.

That's just one of the tragic ironies and mysteries of the suspected murder-suicide that has shaken residents of Crescent City.

Police said the mystery began on Tuesday when the body of Zachary Bowen, 28, was found on top of a parking garage.

A suicide note in his right, front pocket led cops to a grisly crime scene at his apartment in the French Quarter.

According to news reports, two pots were sitting on the stove, one containing a woman's head and another holding her hands and feet. Police believe the body parts belong to Bowen's girlfriend, Addie Hall.

In the oven, detectives reportedly found turkey-basting trays containing legs and arms sprinkled with seasoning.


(snip)

link: http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=2590814&page=1

[Miss Chybil]

1. War. What is it good for? nt

[truthpusher]

2. war... war.... war..... war....

war... war.... war..... war....war... war.... war..... war....war... war.... war..... war....war... war.... war..... war....war... war.... war..... war....war... war.... war..... war....war... war.... war..... war....war... war.... war..... war....war... war.... war..... war....war... war.... war..... war....war... war.... war..... war....war... war.... war..... war....war... war.... war..... war....war... war.... war..... war....war... war.... war..... war....war... war.... war..... war....

will we ever tire of it?

[LisaL]

3. Yea, that's a real mystery. Geez.

Has it occurred to them that he lost his mind, and war might have something to do with it?

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

4. Iraq and NOLA, Dear God.

:cry: MKJ

[JI7]

11. just what i'm thinking, you come home but still don't have the safety

i can't imagine what it would be like. that just sucks. really sucks. why anyone should have to go through these things.

[Selatius]

5. My guess: He was eaten alive by something he saw or did during his tour

The story hints it circulates around a child, possibly in a war zone.

Maybe he accidentally shot the child?

"A fellow bartender told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that after downing rounds of Miller High Life and Jameson's Irish Whiskey, Bowen would grow depressed when talking about his military service, indicating that there was an overseas incident involving a child that haunted him."

Maybe it was a checkpoint shooting. I've heard many stories of civilians being shot at US checkpoints because they can't understand troops when they tell them to stop.

[jus_the_facts]

6. First this article says he was a bartender....then it says......

...his suicide note said he'd been at work delivering groceries....the media are some VERY sick puppies themselves as the police had to reiterate to them that he'd not eaten any of the corpse because there wasn't any in his stomach after the autopsy...nor had he had sex with the corpse....jesus christ on the half shell this is beyond fucked up...to even read such a thing like this actually happens....and then have the media try to throw in he was a cannibal and necrophiliac?!?!? :wtf: :evilfrown:

[OwnedByFerrets]

7. I know its not really important,

but I found out tonite that they were my best friends neighbors. They had spoken to them and never knew of anything being wrong. Just hits close to home. What a shame. War sucks.

[Luna_C_06]

8. Damn....

Sorry OBF, I hope your friends are alright. Yeah, war sucks BIG TIME.

[truthpusher]

9. bummer - that's got to make it hard to live in the same place after...

...something like that happens next door.

[Shakespeare]

10. They were Katrina survivors...

...who were featured in the media frequently for their resilience and choice to stay in NOLA. My first thought is that PTSD from Katrina is partly to blame for the tragedy.

[Bucky]

12. Damn. That's utterly fucked up.

How hard must it be to chop up a person's body just using ordinary kitchen utinsils? I can barely slice apart a chicken and this sicko manages to butcher a whole human body? And THEN he goes out drinking? This is just beyond mind boggling.

[w4rma]

13. …

…
"I scared myself not by the action of calmly strangling the woman I've loved for one and a half years … but by my entire lack of remorse," wrote Bowen in the note.

Bowen had one last drink at the Omni Royal New Orleans hotel before walking over to an outside terrace and throwing himself off the edge.

A rooftop surveillance camera captured his nervous pacing back and forth. "This is not accidental," Bowen wrote in the note. "I had to take my own life to pay for the one I took."

:(

[bling bling]

14. He sprinkled her with seasoning before baking her.

I really wish this guy would have explained in the note why he cooked her and sprinkled her with seasoning. Was there any thought process to it? Obviously it was irrational, well, insane, but I'm curious as to what in the world was driving that action if he wasn't a cannibal.

[La_Fourmi_Rouge]

22. Yeah! And what seasoning? n/t

[loyalsister]

15. I can't imagine what he was living

He had to forget everything he knew about stability, morality, and reality in Iraq then comes back and there's no real stability here.
He was self-mutilating and self-medicating. There was something seriously wrong so far beyond any experience I can possibly imagine to begin to relate to this guy.
The degree to which soldiers are negatively affected by war is related to how the reality matches their expectations. This administration set the stage for a massive mental illness disaster with the marketing illusions they created.

[Bigmack]

16. Just saw this story on CNN...

Headline news, and they never mentioned his service in Iraq.

[ourbluenation]

17. my god - I'm about to hurl. That poor woman. n/t

[leftchick]

18. is one automatically assumed a hero

for serving in a war?

[BuyingThyme]

19. Only in wars of choice.

[brentspeak]

20. For the most part, yes

But a troop is "officially" considered a hero when they are awarded medals:

He served in Kosovo and Iraq as a military policeman, earning several medals including the NATO medal and the Presidential Unit Citation, which is awarded to military units that have performed a heroic act in the face of an armed enemy.

[StellaBlue]

21. Holy shit, Southern Gothic come to life.

Especially looking at that picture.

This is truly terrifying. On a human level. Poor, poor people. :(