An appeal of Frank Bowen’s conviction and 18 years to life prison sentence in the 2014 murder of Joseph Graley III of Miami County’s Bethel Township was filed March 8 with Ohio’s 2nd District Court of Appeals.
Bowen, 26, was convicted earlier this year by a Common Pleas Court jury on charges of murder, gross abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence in the October 2014 beating death of Graley, 31. A jury last summer failed to reach a verdict on those charges but found Bowen guilty of safecracking.
Judge Christopher Gee sentenced him Feb. 29 to 18 years to life in prison.
County Public Defender Steve Layman, who represented Bowen along with fellow public defender Steve King, filed the appeal.
Layman did not list any specific possible issues for review by the appeals court. Instead, he wrote that, “Review of trial and sentencing transcripts by new counsel for appellate purposes may reveal some issues nor presently identified.”
Graley’s remains were found Oct. 23, 2014, under a pile of sticks and debris behind his Scarff Road home.
A coroner testified at Bowen’s trial in January that Graley died of blunt force trauma to the head and neck.
Graley had been reported missing by family and friends the day before the remains were found.
Bowen, a former Tipp City area resident, had been living with him for just a few days after returning to the area from South Carolina and having no place to stay.
