Man at Fulton State Hospital arrested in 1989 cold case surrounding Springfield teen’s killing

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

A patient at Fulton State Hospital has been arrested after he was accused of raping and killing a teenager in 1989.

Paul Edward Bowles, 62, was booked into the Callaway County Jail on Thursday on suspicion of second-degree murder, forcible rape and forcible sodomy. Jail records show that he will be brought to the Greene County Jail. Charges have not appeared on Casenet.

The Springfield Police Department wrote on its social media that Bowles is accused of raping and killing Jennifer Williams, 18.

The release says that Williams left work at around 10:30 p.m. on Sept. 8, 1989, and was dropped off at her home in the 700 block of North Kansas Expressway. She allegedly told a friend that she was going to walk to her husband’s business, but she never showed up, the release says. She was reported missing on Sept. 11, 1989.

Three youths found Williams’ body on Sept. 20, 1989 and evidence allegedly showed that she was sexually assaulted, the release says.

The release says the sexual assault kit was tested in 2019 and revealed a man’s DNA was present, but “but it was insufficient for database searches. In 2024, new advances in DNA testing became available and, with funding provided by Season of Justice, Williams' sexual assault kit was tested again, identifying Bowles as the suspect.”

The release says Bowles was being held at Fulton State Hospital on different charges and was contacted by Springfield police there.

Bowles is listed as a sex offender on the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s sex offender registry without an address. He is listed as incarcerated on the website.

Court records show Bowles had pleaded guilty to misdemeanor DWI in Greene County in 1990 stemming from a 1989 incident.