Confessed serial killer Gary Ray Bowles moved from state to state in search of victims, leaving behind a chilling detail that would eventually connect his crimes.
After murdering people, Bowles frequently forced leaves, dirt or other objects into their mouths. A forensic psychologist said the disturbing act may have been intended to humiliate his victims while reinforcing his sense of power over them.
“The stuffing of the objects into the victim’s mouth could have some symbolic meaning,” Dr. Kerry Bogardus said on Oxygen’s Unknown Serial Killers of America. “It certainly could act as a symbol of the dehumanization of a victim. To humiliate them, to say to them, ‘I am more powerful than you.’”
Bowles often preyed on gay men who had offered him help or companionship. He would kill them, take their vehicles and use the stolen cars to travel to another state, where he searched for his next target.
Martin Bradley, the nephew of one of Bowles’ victims, summed up the brutality simply: “He’s the definition of evil.”
Victim Milton Bradley Found on Golf Course
The investigation into Bowles’ crimes began in Savannah, Georgia, on May 4, 1994, when the body of Martin’s 72-year-old uncle, Milton Bradley, was found at a golf club.
Milton had been missing for five days when authorities discovered him lying on his back. Leaves, twigs and soil had been packed into his mouth, and investigators determined that he had been beaten and manually strangled.
Milton was widely known in Savannah as a gentle and welcoming man whose kindness had made him a familiar presence in the community.
“Uncle Milton was a World War II veteran,” Martin said. “He sacrificed for the country, had shell shock. Medically, they did bad things back then. They lobotomized him.”
Following the procedure, Milton’s relatives continued to care for him. They eventually employed him at the family’s key and locksmith shop.
The autopsy revealed a fractured nose and defensive injuries, indicating that Milton had struggled against his attacker before he died.
His wallet, which normally contained money and credit cards, was gone. Investigators also found a palm print on a nearby storage shed that could have belonged to the killer.
Investigators Learn Telling Clues About Milton Bradley’s Attacker
Witnesses said Milton had last been seen on April 29 at Faces, a gay bar, leaving with a man believed to be about 30 years old. The man had dark hair, a mustache and a tattoo on his bicep.
Identifying him proved difficult because he had reportedly used several different names. Surveillance footage later showed a man using Milton’s credit card at a gas station, but the poor-quality video was not clear enough to establish his identity.
Detectives also learned that the suspect appeared to be surviving by working as a male prostitute.
“There’s something called a hustler, which is a straight male, who receives oral sex from a gay man in exchange for money,” former FBI Special Agent Dennis Regan explained. “And we start to get the understanding that this person is a drifter and hustler.”
Authorities Link I-95 Killer to Other Crimes Along Interstate
Seeking a broader lead, Savannah police contacted the FBI to determine whether similar killings had occurred elsewhere in the country.
Agents soon found a possible connection. On April 13, 1994—just weeks before Milton vanished—the body of David Jarman had been discovered inside his home in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Jarman, a respected loan officer who frequently visited gay clubs, had been strangled and robbed of his credit card and car. Detectives also found a sex toy lodged in his throat.
Jarman’s last known sighting was at a gay bar, where he had been seen with a younger man who fit the same general description provided by witnesses in Milton Bradley’s case.
The FBI was also able to link the crime spree to the March 14 murder of John Roberts in Daytona Beach, Florida.
“John Roberts was discovered by a friend who did a wellness check and saw that Mr. Roberts was lying in a pool of blood in his living room,” Regan said. “The police come to investigate, they see that it’s a messy crime scene. There’s an overturned table, there’s broken glass, food everywhere. They see that there’s blunt force trauma to Mr. Roberts’ head, manual strangulation and he’s gagged with a white cloth that is put down his throat.”
After the killing, the suspect—dubbed the I-95 killer—stole Roberts’ car then took the interstate north before abandoning the vehicle in Nashville, Tenn.
“He would move up and down the I-95 interstate,” Bogardus explained, “commit a crime, pick up a car, take it to the next state.”
Suspect Identified as Drifter Gary Ray Bowles
Investigators caught a break in identifying their killer after finding a probation report in Roberts’ home with the name Gary Ray Bowles, a man from Kentucky with a troubled past.
Bowles’ handprint in the system also matched to the one left behind at Milton’s crime scene, authorities said.
“There’s very little doubt in our mind that Gary Ray Bowles was the killer of Milton Bradley, David Jarman and John Roberts,” Regan said. “This serial murderer is on the loose and we need to find him.”
Investigators believed that Bowles operated by targeting the kindest guy in the room at a club in an attempt to get invited back their home, then killed and robbed his victims.
His violent ways began early in life after beating his stepfather with a rock at the age of 14. After fleeing home, Bowles began hitchhiking.
“The first person who picks him up gives Bowles oral sex,” Bogardus said, “pays him for it, and says ‘This is how you can make money.’”
Though straight, Bowles—who had a criminal record for aggravated battery, prostitution and drug-related offenses— began hustling to support himself, Regan said, adding “This is easy money to him.”
Not long after Milton’s murder, the body of 37-year-old Albert “Alcie” Morris was found May 19 inside his Hilliard, Florida home.
“It’s a chaotic scene in the house where they are stabbing each other, hitting each other and someone shot Alcie Morris to death with one shot to the chest,” Regan said. “There is manual strangulation. The perpetrator has taken a blood soaked towel and placed it in the mouth and throat of Alcie Morris.”
Investigators said Bowles fingerprints were found at the scene.
Gary Ray Bowles Strikes Again in Florida
With investigators fearing that Bowles could strike again, they flooded the media and gay bars throughout the country with his pictures and information about his crimes, but months went by without any new leads.
Then, in November of 1994, investigators learned that another body had been discovered in Jacksonville, Florida.
Jay Hinton had been violently killed inside his mobile home. According to investigators, Bowles had grabbed a concrete stepping stone from outside the house as Hinton slept and dropped it onto his head.
“The autopsy on Jay Hinton revealed that he also had injuries to a rib cage,” former Jacksonville Sheriff’s Det. Joe Collins recalled. “There was indication there was a fight.”
Hinton was strangled and had a rag stuffed down his throat.
As former Florida Assistant State Attorney Bernie De La Rionda explained, “It was as egregious, as heinous, as atrocious a murder as you can have.”
How Was Gary Ray Bowles Caught?
Detectives learned that before his death, Hinton had given man he believed was named Timothy Whitfield a place to stay.
Authorities learned that Bowles had been using the alias to avoid detection. They were able to track Bowles to his job in Jacksonville, where he was working under the name Timothy Whitfield and he was arrested. Though he initially claimed to be Whitfield, he eventually confessed to his real identity and the six murders.
“He used gay men to get food, shelter and comfort,” Collins explained. “They bring him in as a roommate. Everything was fine until it was time to move on. In his words, he didn’t kill everybody he met. It was only a few, unfortunately, that triggered him to murder.”
Bowles was convicted of Hinton’s murder in 1996 and sentenced to death. He was executed by lethal injection in Florida in 2019.
