Family photoA woman whose mother was murdered and her body hidden for 20 years has said she was told the killer would be released while she was about to go on her honeymoon.
Michael Bowen was jailed for life in 1998 for murdering his wife Sandie Bowen and paroled in January 2015, but has since been recalled to custody twice.
Ms Bowen’s daughter Anita Fox said he should never have been released from prison after it emerged he was originally granted parole despite being considered high risk.
The Parole Board said decisions to release prisoners were undertaken “thoroughly and with extreme care” and protecting the public was its “number one priority”.
Ms Fox said she was at Heathrow Airport preparing to fly to Spain in November 2024 when she found out Bowen would be released again.
Ms Bowen, 53, disappeared from the home she shared with her husband in Llandogo, near Monmouth, in August 1997.
Her remains, tied to a kitchen sink, were found washed up on the banks of Wentwood Reservoir, near Newport, in February 2017.
Bowen, 72, who now goes by the name Raymond Bowen, refused to tell police where Sandie’s body was and has never admitted her murder.
Court documents seen by Wales now reveal Bowen was regarded as high risk at the time of his initial release in 2015.
Ms Fox said this meant Bowen should not have been released.
“He took away my mum, my opportunity to grow old with her and for my grandchildren to meet her,” she said.
“I’ve never had what I would say is real closure, because he’s never, ever admitted to murdering my mum.”
Family photoAny prisoner serving a life sentence will remain subject to licence conditions for the rest of their lives after release.
Bowen was recalled to prison for the first time in December 2015 after breaching his licence and remained there until September 2016.
He was recalled again in May 2020 following an incident where threats were made and remained in custody for another four-and-a-half years.
In deciding whether to release him once again, a parole board panel said it had considered risk factors around his attitude to relationships, including, “wanting to control a partner”, “jealousy” and “being unable to accept a relationship has ended”.
The panel heard Bowen had undertaken programmes in prison to address his propensity to violence.
But Anita said she believed Bowen “hasn’t made any changes to be a better person”, especially in relationships with women.
“It makes me cross because as far as I’m concerned he should never have been let out in the first place,” she said.
Justin O’Keeffe, a retired detective chief inspector with Gwent Police, said it was “depressing and disappointing” to see Bowen had completed the same courses in prison as he had during his first term inside.
“You’d like to think someone who’s spent a significant time in the prison environment would be able to see the error of their ways,” he said.
“You’d think they could reflect on their behaviour.”
Ms Fox, who lives in Folkestone, Kent, said her victim liaison officer rang to tell her of Bowen’s release from custody as she was about to begin her honeymoon.
Family photoThe parole board said it was, “satisfied that imprisonment was no longer necessary for the protection of the public”.
Bowen’s release is subject to licence conditions including observing an “exclusion zone”, enhanced monitoring and supervision, and disclosing developing relationships.
Mr O’Keeffe said the Sandie Bowen case was “unique” for the Gwent force, as one where the killer was brought to justice without a body.
He described Bowen as “a violent, controlling, coercive, jealous bully” whose trial heard evidence of assaults on previous partners”.
“I can remember how he lied to everyone, his family included, and how he maintained that pretence,” he added.
Ms Fox campaigned for Helen’s Law, which ensures killers who withhold information about their victims, including the location of their remains, can be kept behind bars for longer.
She said when her mum’s body was finally found she kept her ashes at home because she “needed to have her with me”.
She was then joined by her partner and son to scatter Ms Bowen’s ashes in a place that they had both loved.
“That then was how I was able to know that I could then move on.”
