Damien Bowie was 23-year-old when he was killed in 2014. The murder happened in broad daylight, so why are there no answer years later? That is what HCSO Special Investigators are working to find out.
Dan Bendig, HCSO Special Investigator:
Yes. The victim knew who killed him. The neighborhood knows the individuals that killed Mr. Bowie.
Amanda Granit, Host: A MURDER IN BROAD DAYLIGHT… WITH DOZENS OF WITNESSES… BUT YEARS LATER IT IS STILL UNSOLVED.
Dan Bendig, HCSO Special Investigator:
He had children who never really knew their father. They were babies.
Amanda Granit, Host: WE ARE TAKING A LOOK BACK AT THE MURDER OF DAMIEN BOWIE IN HOPES THAT YOU CAN HELP US SOLVE THIS UNFINISHED BUSINESS.
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Dan Bendig, HCSO Special Investigator:
My name is Dan Bendig. I'm an investigator with the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. I have been here almost a year now. Prior to that, I was with the New York City Police Department for 25 years. My last four plus years was with the cold case squad up in New York city.
Amanda Granit, Host:
What do you hope comes from the Unfinished Business podcast?
Dan Bendig, HCSO Special Investigator:
To get these victim's names out there again as the families don't forget, and the police department doesn't forget. A lot of the public forgets or tends to put on a back burner. So to put these names, and faces to these names, and the horrible way they've been murdered back in a little bit of limelight, a media light to maybe bring attention to aid us in bringing these cases further into investigations and to help us solve them.
Amanda Granit, Host:
Who are we talking about today?
Dan Bendig, HCSO Special Investigator:
Today, we're talking about a young gentleman named Damien Bowie. He was murdered on March 2nd, 2014. He was 23 years old. He was a father. He was a son. And he was murdered in broad daylight inside of Esther Del Rio apartments over at 66, 11 North 50th Street in Tampa. Like I just mentioned, he was murdered in broad daylight. There were a lot of people around, and that's the main reason I want to bring this to a podcast is because there were a lot of witnesses that never talked to the police, never came forward.
Dan Bendig, HCSO Special Investigator:
Back then, there were a number of phone calls made and random tips, but people think when they call in a tip, and there's nothing else because they watch TV, it can bring a case to a conclusion. When people call randomly with eyewitness accounts, and we don't know who they are, we don't know if it's fact, you really can't do anything with that. So, the main reason for being here today on Damien's case is we'd like people to, eight years later, open their minds up and maybe reach into their souls and say, you know what? He didn't deserve to die. And I did see what happened, and I did see who did it. So that's why we're here for this particular podcast.
Amanda Granit, Host:
Did anyone hear arguing beforehand or any, I guess I'm trying to ask, was there anything that led up to this?
Dan Bendig, HCSO Special Investigator:
Damien was hanging out in the apartment complex with a number of friends, doing nothing wrong. A red Infinity, newer model, four-door with three individuals inside the vehicle, all dressed in white t-shirts, drove around the neighborhood multiple times. They pulled into the complex. They backed into a parking spot. There was some sort of conversation with the individual from the backseat that got out, and some sort of confrontation or conversation. Mr. Bowie was pistol-whipped, and then as he fell and was attempting to get up, or as he fell, he was shot one time in the right side of his head at close range, where he succumbed to his injuries pretty much immediately. The car then went outside of the complex and fled eastbound on Sly.
Amanda Granit, Host:
In 2014, there may have been cameras around. Did any of that help investigators and detectives at that point?
Dan Bendig, HCSO Special Investigator:
Yes. There was a number of video recordings retrieved by detectives and that's how we got a description, outside of witnesses, and a good look at the vehicle that was used to commit the crime.
Amanda Granit, Host:
And, again, what you're hoping right now is just that people come forward who saw something, who know something, who may know who did this?
Dan Bendig, HCSO Special Investigator:
Yes. The victim knew who killed him. The neighborhood knows the individuals that killed Mr. Bowie. Like I mentioned, the car was driving around the neighborhood for a while, looking for Mr. Bowie. It drove around 5-0 onto Sly, into a cold parking lot, and eventually pulled into the apartment complex because there was only one entrance and one exit, and parked. And Mr. Bowie wasn't raised up to any danger until the individual got out of the rear of the vehicle.
Amanda Granit, Host:
So, being that we believe that these two individuals know each other, what kind of lifestyle was Mr Bowie living?
Dan Bendig, HCSO Special Investigator:
For a criminal investigation or a cold case investigation his victimology, obviously, is before. We get a little background on who he is, what he did, his lifestyle. In a case when it comes to a homicide though, we don't bring that into any factor unless it was something such as, not in this case, a drug deal gone wrong, or a shootout between two individuals. Mr. Bowie's lifestyle, what he did to make money, or what he didn't do, doesn't matter. It matters that he was a 23-year-old person. And no matter what you do in life, you don't deserve to be the victim of a homicide. And to, unfortunately, die in the street with people around watching.
Amanda Granit, Host:
And I would assume his death has ripple effects on those who knew him, his children, his loved ones?
Dan Bendig, HCSO Special Investigator:
Yes. He had children who never really knew their father. They were babies. I believe he had a third child after he was killed. And these are three individuals that, again, are just going to hear stories of who dad was. And he was taken from them. He had parents. And I recently heard that his mother passed away after he was killed before her son's killer was brought to justice.
Amanda Granit, Host: THESE DETECTIVES ARE RESTING, THEY WILL CONTINUE TO WORK AND PUSH FOR ANSWERS UNTIL THEY HAVE THE ONE THEY HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR, FOR ALMOST 10 YEARS… WHO KILLED DAMIEN BOWIE?
IF YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS CASE OR ANY OTHERS FEATURED IN UNFINISHED BUSINESS, CALL THE HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE AT 813-247-8200. YOU CAN FOLLOW ALONG FOR ANY BREAKING UPDATES IN THESE CASE ON SOCIAL MEDIA, FIND US AT HCSO SHERIFF ON FACEBOOK. INSTAGRAM AND TWITTER.