FARMINGTON – A Franklin County judge set bail at $250,000 cash Wednesday for a Carthage man accused of cutting his 44-year-old girlfriend’s throat with a knife and repeatedly telling her to die, according to a police affidavit.
Bennie T. Bowie Jr., 47, is also accused of punching the woman and repeatedly slamming her head on the dashboard of his truck.
Bowie’s attorney, Thomas Carey, reserved the right to argue bail. The court appearance was done by video from the Franklin County jail to the Farmington District Court. Judge Charles Dow set bail as requested by Assistant District Attorney Joshua Robbins.
Franklin County Sheriff’s Deputy Andrew Morgan arrested Bowie on Tuesday on a charge of attempted murder, which is a Class A felony, Sheriff Scott Nichols Sr. said. Bowie was also charged on a Class B felony of aggravated assault, he said Wednesday.
A conviction on the attempted murder charge carries a penalty of up to 30 years in prison and a $50,000 fine; conviction on the assault charge carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.
New information was revealed Wednesday in a probable cause affidavit Morgan filed with the court Tuesday.
Morgan and Cpl. Matthew Brann responded to Bowie’s mother’s Carthage residence early Sunday for a report of a female with a laceration to her neck. Bowie’s mother told deputies that the female arrived at her house unexpectedly and went into the bathroom to clean up.
When Morgan arrived he observed the victim bleeding from the neck and saw blood on the victim’s shirt and on the floor of the bathroom, the affidavit states.
When the victim was asked about her injury she stated “her throat was cut by Bennie” with a knife, the affidavit states. She was taken to a Farmington hospital and transferred to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston where she had surgery.
According to the officer’s statement, Bowie’s mother told deputies that a bottle of pills had fallen out of the victim’s clothes while she was cleaning up and she believed the victim to be on drugs. Bowie’s mother and father both said they had not seen Bennie Bowie Jr. since the day before.
Morgan observed a Chevrolet pickup truck parked in the driveway. A passenger window was broken and blood was smeared on the outside of the door. The vehicle was registered to Bowie Jr., the document said.
Morgan went to the Lewiston hospital to interview the victim on Monday but she kept falling asleep because of medication. He saw a bandage on her throat and swelling around her left eye. He left the hospital to let her recover.
Franklin County Detective Kenneth Charles interviewed the victim at the Lewiston hospital Tuesday. The victim told Charles that she and her boyfriend, Bennie Bowie Jr., had lived together for about a year. She and Bowie were at their shared camper trailer in Carthage on Saturday when an altercation ensued, according to the affidavit.
She told Charles that Bowie had consumed at least 12 beers and an undetermined amount of vodka. She told him that Bowie had also used intravenous heroin.
The victim stated that because of cold weather and her medical conditions, including diabetes, that she wanted to go to her father’s residence for the night.
Bowie Jr. “became upset and jealous” and accused the victim of cheating on him with other men, according to the affidavit.
The victim reported that Bowie punched her face and she fled to Bowie’s truck in the driveway. She told Charles that she sat on the passenger side and Bowie sat in the driver’s seat. She reported that Bowie retrieved his folding buck hunting knife from his belt and poked her several times on the left side of her neck as she pointed to numerous small scrapes on her neck, according to the affidavit.
She also told Charles that Bowie grabbed her hair in the back of her head and repeatedly slammed her head onto the dashboard. The victim reported that Bowie got out of the truck and she locked the doors. Bowie went to the passenger side door and reached through a partially ajar window, reached in and with his knife, cut her neck, causing her to bleed.
She told Charles that she did not know how the passenger window was broken. The victim was able to escape and was unsure whose house she ended up at to seek assistance. She also told Charles that Bowie yelled at her throughout the altercation, “die bitch die” and “I should kill you.”
Charles took photos of the victim during the interview. From looking at the photographs the victim had bruising under both eyes and the laceration on her throat is about 2 inches long, according to the affidavit. It had been stitched closed. She also had puncture wounds on the left side of her neck.
Franklin County had put out a warrant on Monday for Bowie’s arrest on the assault charge. Wells Police Department picked him up at a relative’s house. Franklin County sheriff’s deputies picked up Bowie at the York County Jail in Alfred on Tuesday. Morgan gave him his Miranda warning.
Bowie declined to answer questions about the incident. He was formally arrested on a charge of aggravated attempted murder and taken back to the Franklin County jail in Farmington.
dperry@sunmediagroup.net
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