Trial & Error TV - Evidence-Based Justice Lab online article -
Jane Bowler’s mother has been sentenced to life for murder … For the first time Trial & Error returns to a case we first examined two years ago. Because the Appeal Court we believe is as misguided and misinformed as the original trial which branded her a murderer. Trial & Error: Sheila, Bowler, Channel 4 1995
Sheila Bowler is a widow, a music teacher and according to the law a callous killer … Sheila Bowler picked up her late husband’s aunt Flo from Grayfriars, the home which looked after the 89 year old lady. ibid.
Aunt Flo was gone. The police were called and there was a limited search of the area. ibid.
The motive police thought was money. ibid.
1992: At Sheila Bowler’s trial the defence team relied on the fact that the prosecution had nothing to prove their case. ibid.
We began to investigate the possibility, never properly pursued at trial, that she in fear in panic walked off into the night alone and to her death. ibid.
Sheila Bowler was found guilty of the murder of her late husband’s aunt, Florrie Jackson. Sheila had recently become the beneficiary of Florrie’s will and as such police had reason to believe she killed her. Sheila claimed she had collected Florrie from her nursing home but on the way home had car issues and had walked to a house to find help. Florrie then vanished and her body was found by police in a river 800 yards from where she went missing. Police found it unlikely Florrie would have been able to walk to the river and so ruled out accidental drowning. On appeal, evidence was introduced from experts who stated that although unlikely it would not have been impossible for Florrie (who had mobility issues) to walk to the river. Evidence was also introduced from Florrie’s GP who felt that Florrie was more active and better able to walk than the trial suggested. The conviction was quashed, and Sheila was found not guilty at a retrial. Evidence-Based Justice Lab online article