Thursday, November 07, 2002
Canadian mechanic says there was no secret compartment in Garrison Bowman's van
Investigation of Short deaths 'still wide open'

Forensic scientists are combing through Bowman's possessions while authorities are pursuing leads unrelated to the North Carolina man.

By MIKE ALLEN
THE ROANOKE TIMES

   Garry Bowman, the North Carolina carpenter who was once the primary focus of the Short triple-homicide investigation, is out of jail. Forensic scientists are combing through Bowman's belongings brought back by detectives from the Northwest Territories in Canada.

    The squad of detectives investigating the Aug. 15 slayings of Michael and Mary Short and the death of their 9-year-old daughter Jennifer has been shrunk from about 30 to about 15. And there are increasing doubts about the witness' statement that caused police to look at Bowman in the first place.

    But Henry County Sheriff Frank Cassell said the investigation into the mysterious triple slayings of the Oak Level family has not experienced any setbacks.

    Bowman's release from federal custody last week had no effect on the investigation, Cassell said.

    "It hasn't changed anything we did one bit. We're not back to square one. It's still wide open," he said.

    Detectives from Henry County, Rockingham County, N.C., and the FBI traveled to Canada last week to process Bowman's Ford van for forensic evidence. Since then, little new information has turned up.

    The detectives brought back boxes of Bowman's possessions, including letters, court documents, clothes and a sleeping bag. The items were delivered to a state forensic lab in Roanoke, where scientists will comb through them looking for any link to the shooting deaths of the Shorts.

    So far, investigators haven't found any link between Bowman and the family. Bowman, 66, has said that he didn't know the Shorts and had nothing to do with the killings.

    No one has been charged in relation to the case.

    The police interest in Bowman stems from a statement made to police by his former landlord, alleging, among other things, that Bowman constructed a false bottom in his van around the time of the Shorts' deaths.

    But the Canadian mechanic who repaired the van after a wreck in the Northwest Territories says there is no such hidden compartment inside it.

    "If there was any false bottom floor, I would surely know that," Nelson Dicks, owner of Norcan Auto Leasing in Inuvik, said in a telephone interview with The Roanoke Times.

    Investigators have continued to pursue leads in the Short killings unrelated to Bowman, Cassell said. Last week, they interviewed residents of the Rockingham County neighborhood where Jennifer Short's body was found.

    Another Henry County investigator was on special assignment in Tennessee in relation to Bowman and the Short case, Cassell said, though he declined to comment further.

    On Aug. 31, while driving through the Northwest Territories, Bowman wrecked his cargo van. It lay on its top for two days before Dicks towed it over hundreds of miles of muddy gravel roads to Inuvik. The van's contents had been damaged by rain that poured through its broken windshield, Dicks said.

    Knowing Bowman had nowhere to go, Dicks allowed him to stay at his garage. As Dicks' employees repaired the van, Bowman took all his possessions out and cleaned them. The van was completely emptied twice, Dicks said. He saw no false bottom or secret compartments.

    Dicks spoke to Bowman by phone Oct. 31 about the rumored false bottom. "He said there is no floor in the van, period, other than what Ford Motor Company put in there."

    Details of the statement made to police by Gary Lemons, Bowman's ex-landlord, have been disputed. Lemons told police Bowman threatened to kill a Virginia man he paid to move a mobile home. Bowman's friends say he paid an Eden, N.C., man to do that job.

    According to search warrants, police found a map of Henry County in the house Bowman rented for a workshop. The map had a red "X" in the approximate location of the Shorts' home, documents say.

    Cassell has clarified an earlier statement he made about the map. Police found the Henry County map, as well as a Patrick County map with similar red marks. The single "X" on the Henry County map appears to mark a place about five miles from the Shorts' home, he said.

    The Henry County Sheriff's Office asks that anyone with information call (276)638-8751.

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