FARMINGTON — A Franklin County grand jury Thursday indicted a Carthage man accused of attempting to murder his 44-year-old girlfriend Nov. 1, 2015, in Carthage.
Bennie T. Bowie II, 47, is accused of cutting his girlfriend’s throat with a knife, punching her in the face and repeatedly slamming her head on the dashboard of his truck.
Bowie is being held on $20,000 bail at the Franklin County jail.
He was indicted on felony charges of attempted murder, aggravated assault-elevated and aggravated assault with a weapon, according to the grand jury report. He was also indicted on a felony charge of violation of bail for trying to communicate with the victim while he was in jail.
A conviction on the attempted murder charge and the aggravated assault-elevated carries a penalty of up to 30 years in prison and a $50,000 fine; conviction on the aggravated assault with a weapon charge carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.
Franklin County Deputy Andrew Morgan and Cpl. Matthew Brann responded to the residence of Bowie’s mother in Carthage early Nov. 1, 2015, 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.
According to Morgan’s affidavit, when he asked the victim about her injury, she said “her throat was cut by Bennie” with a knife. She was taken to a Farmington hospital and transferred to Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston where she had surgery.
Franklin County Detective Kenneth Charles interviewed the victim at the Lewiston hospital on Nov. 4, 2015. The victim said she and Bowie, her boyfriend, were at their shared camper trailer in Carthage on Oct. 31, 2015, when an altercation ensued. She told Charles that Bowie had consumed at least 12 beers and an undetermined amount of vodka. Bowie had also used intravenous heroin, she said.
When the victim wanted to go to her father’s residence for the night, Bowie “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, then retrieved his folding buck hunting knife from his belt and poked her several times on the left side of 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 on the dashboard. The victim reported that Bowie got out of the truck and she locked the doors. He went to the passenger side door and reached through a window with his knife, cut her neck, causing her to bleed, according to the victim.
The victim was able to escape and was unsure whose house she approached to seek assistance. She also told Charles that Bowie yelled at her throughout the altercation, “Die bitch die” and “I should kill you,” according to the affidavit.
dperry@sunmediagroup.net
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