Overview
- The Broward County public defender asked a judge to withdraw from representing Stephen Bowen, citing office staff who had personal and professional ties to Nancy Metayer Bowen.
- The motion says staying on the case would violate Bowen’s right to effective assistance of counsel and asks the court to relieve the office for ethical reasons.
- Bowen remains in Broward County custody charged with first-degree premeditated murder and evidence tampering after his wife was found dead in their Coral Springs home during a welfare check.
- An arrest report describes a body wrapped in blankets and black garbage bags in the primary bedroom and notes a pillow with burn marks that police suspect was used as a makeshift silencer.
- Witness statements in the report include an uncle who said Bowen admitted shooting his wife and an acquaintance who said Bowen handed him a “gun bag,” while tributes from city and party leaders reflect the public impact of the vice mayor’s death.