Detroit police are claiming that two Allen Park residents whose bodies were found in a canal off the Detroit River had been shot before being dismembered. 39-year-old Roger Bowling has been charged in the slayings. Bowling had been staying at the home of the victims, Chris Hall and his fiancé Danielle Greenway. Greenway was 32 years old, Hall 42; the couple was last seen July 14th.
According to news reports, a torso was spotted on the morning of July 17th in a canal leading from the Detroit River on the city’s east side. While investigating the original report, the U.S. Coast Guard discovered a second torso in the river; both bodies were beheaded.
Wayne County medical examiner Jeffrey Jentzen testified on at the preliminary examination on Monday August 20th that Danielle Greenway had been shot through the mouth a single time prior to her hands, legs and head being sawed off and dumped in the canal. Reports also indicate that Hall was shot six times, two of those shots to the head.
As Jentzen testified at District Court, he recounted how an angler allegedly noticed a saw and legs submerged close to a seawall not far from the canal along the riverbank. Jentzen said that the victims’ torsos were sawed off at mid-thigh, and the hands severed at the wrists. He believed that the bodies had been dismembered through the use of a mechanical saw due to the uniform, clean cuts.
Bowling was the ex-boyfriend of Greenway. Reportedly a former friend of Bowling, Robert Slick, testified that the accused had said he would cut Greenway up and place her in a cooler before dumping it in the water. Mark L. Brown, defense lawyer for Bowling, stated that there were no eyewitnesses linking the defendant to the killings. Police believe that Hall and Greenway were shot at their Allen Park residence.
Bowling was charged with two counts each of first-degree murder and mutilation of a body. If convicted, Bowling will face life in prison without the possibility of parole, the mandatory penalty in Michigan for first-degree murder. He was also charged with tampering with evidence.
Without skilled legal representation, those charged with a serious criminal offense face severe penalties if convicted. Innocent individuals are often put behind bars for crimes they did not commit. Whether guilty or innocent, it is crucial that you consult with a skilled Michigan criminal defense attorney immediately.