CLAKRSBURG, W.Va. — A man charged in the 2001 sexual assault and burglary of an elderly woman has been found guilty of all the charges against him.
Adam Derek Bowers, 29, was found guilty of two counts of first degree sexual assault, one count of burglary and one count of first degree robbery by a jury Thursday after over an hour of deliberations.
The three day trial went over the events of late November 30, early December 1 in which Bowers broke into the home of the 83-year-old woman in the Stealy area of Clarksburg and then proceeded to rape her multiple times and rob her of $9 at knifepoint.
DNA evidence tested multiple times matched Bowers to the samples collected from the victim.
In the closing arguments, the defense argued that the state’s evidence without eyewitnesses, the knife used in the crime presented at the trial and other points they felt were inconsistent was not sufficient.
Defense attorney Christopher M. Wilson asked the jury to look at the evidence as a whole, rather than just the DNA samples.
The state countered that the DNA samples was all the evidence needed.
Harrison Assistant Prosecutor James Armstrong told juroros that if there was video evidence, there would be no doubt of the crime. However, “I have something better than video. I have Mr. Bowers’ DNA.”
A DNA expert testified earlier in the week that the odds of the DNA belonging to someone other than Bowers was 1 in 40 billion.
Harrison Chief Judge Thomas Bedell intitally scheduled Bowers’ sentencing for August 19.
While a juvenile at the time of the crime, former Harrison County Prosecuting Attorney Joe Shaffer bumped Bowers’ case to adult status.
If given the maximum punishment, between all four counts, Bowers faces 95 years in prison –though there is no cap on a first-degree robbery sentence– and he will have to register as a sex offender if ever freed.
He was initially set to be released the state Division of Corrections from the Mount Olive Correctional facilty on June 28 after serving a sentence for an unrelated crime.
Bowers is the second individual to be convicted of this crime.
Joseph Anthony “Joe” Buffey, now 31, was arrested soon after the crime in 2001 after breaking into three separate businesses the same night.
He entered into a plea deal and recieved a 70-year prison sentence, which he is currently serving.
However, an appeal is being filed with the state Supreme Court with the help of New York-based Innocence Project, arguing that Buffey recieved poor legal counsel when entering into the deal because the DNA samples were not yet tested.
The state contends the lack of DNA evidence does not mean there were not multiple assailants –as the victim’s son testified she intitailly said, but later her story changed to include words such as “he” instead of “them”– and that Buffey could have used a condom.
The appeal is descirbed by state attorneys as “buyers remorse.”
The court has not yet ruled on if the appeal will be heard.