Kevin Dowling was convicted of killing a store clerk to prevent her testifying against him, the case featured on a recent episode of the Investigation Discovery series American Monster.
In 1996 Jennifer Myers was attacked at the Gray Fox Gallery in Spring Grove, PA, which she owned and operated. Her assailant had robbed and then attempted to rape her.
A few months later, Myers spotted her attacker working at a local gas station and called the police.
Dowling was charged with robbery and indecent assault, but Myers was found dead before the trial started. On October 20, 1997, she’d been shot in the head and chest at the same gallery where the attack had taken place.
During the trial, Dowling produced a videotape that he said showed he was away fishing at the time of the murder, however, detectives were not convinced, and experts examined the tape.
It took an astrophysicist recommended by NASA to work out using the sun that the time on the video did not match the actual time of day.
Dowling was found guilty of murder in 1998 and sentenced to death.
However, he continues to protest his innocence and has made various appeals complaining about his initial defense council.
He remains in prison, and there is currently a state ban on executions, so he’s likely to live out his remaining years in prison.
American Monster airs on Sundays at 9:00 P.M. on Investigation Discovery.