Murder charge in play for homicide trial, judge rules
When a Hopwood man accused of causing April Lincoln’s death by pushing her into a creek goes to trial, Fayette County jurors will be able to consider murder as part of the criminal homicide charge. Eric Bowser, 30, of 148 Bennington Road allegedly told police he accidentally pushed Lincoln into Redstone Creek in North Union Township in August 2005.
On Tuesday morning, Bowser’s attorney, Jack W. Connor, asked Judge Gerald R. Solomon to rule that, at most, Bowser could be convicted of involuntary manslaughter.
Connor cited several appellate court cases that he said indicated a person could not form malice during a single act, such as pushing someone. Malice, a legal standard, is necessary to prove any of the murder counts.
Involuntary manslaughter is a reckless or grossly negligent act that causes someone’s death.
After hearing testimony from Allegheny County forensic pathologist Dr. Cyril H. Wecht, Solomon denied the request.
Wecht testified he performed the autopsy on Aug. 18, one day after Lincoln’s badly decomposed body was found in Redstone Creek. He testified she died of impact injuries to her head, and had a fracture across the base of her skull. Wecht testified that such an injury generally does not occur when someone simply falls down.
“You need a substantial amount of force,” he told Assistant District Attorney Jack R. Heneks Jr.
Even with a 2- to 3-foot drop into the creek, Wecht testified that it was unlikely that Lincoln, at 5 feet 1 inch tall, sustained that type of fracture by falling down.
He also testified, under questioning Connor that if Lincoln’s body hit off of rocks while she was in the creek, the skull fracture could have worsened.
Wecht also told Connor that if Lincoln had been pushed upward and fell to the ground there was “an increased possibility” that she could have sustained the fracture.
Connor also asked Solomon to consider setting bond, but the judge denied his request.
A trial date has not yet been set.