Man pleads not guilty in 1967 murder of Toledo teenager

11/7/2008

A former Toledo man charged in the 1967 murder of a 14-year-old girl pleaded not guilty Friday to one count of murder in the first degree.

Robert Bowman, 72, was arraigned on the murder charges in Lucas County Common Pleas Court and a Nov. 26 hearing date was set. Judge Gene Zmuda appointed attorneys Pete Rost and Jane Roman to represent him.

Bowman is accused of kidnapping, raping, and murdering Eileen Adams, a Sylvania Township teenager who was last seen Dec. 18, 1967, in a West Toledo neighborhood. Her body was found 43 days later in a frozen Monroe County field.

Police said she was wrapped in a mattress cover and oval braided rug. Her wrists and ankles were bound with drapery cord and a telephone cord was looped around her neck and tied to her ankles bending her backwards.

Strangulation was ruled as cause of death. She had also been sexually assaulted.

Cold case detectives issued an arrest warrant on Nov. 27, 2006, after using a reverse paternity test to identify DNA found on the body as compatible with Bowman s. He was arrested in Cathedral City, Calif., near Palm Springs, on Oct. 2 and extradited to Ohio on Oct. 27.

Judge Gene Zmuda set a $500,000 bond.