Died on:
October 16, 1873
Age 44
Provo Police Department
Homicide: Handgun
Marshal Bowen was murdered at a Provo saloon. During the evening of October 13, the 44-year-old victim responded to a report of an intoxicated man waving a gun. When Marshal Bowen attempted to disarm the man, he was shot in the side of the head with a .36-caliber revolver. The marshal lived for three days, dying on the thirteenth birthday of his eldest son. His killer was arrested two months later in Nevada. Convicted of second-degree murder, the man was sent to Utah Territorial Prison where he eventually became a trustee. In 1876, while attempting to prevent the escape of inmates who had previously attacked and mortally wounded Warden Mathew Burgher, he was shot and killed. Marshal Bowen was married and the father of nine children. He is buried in Provo City Cemetery. His bronze name plaque is sponsored by Provo P.D. Local #129/Police Mutual Aid Association.