Julie Bowling was shot dead in the garage of her home in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, in December 2006. Her husband, Mark Bowling, seemingly had a strong alibi as he was in Florida on a scuba diving trip at the time.
However, it would later transpire that her husband had planned the whole murder.
Mark Bowling was a funeral home director who was having an affair with grocery clerk Rose Vincent when he decided he wanted to end his wife’s life. He managed to convince his lover, Vincent, to do his dirty work, albeit with an incentive of $50,000.
Bowling threatened to kill himself if Vincent didn’t agree to go through with the killing. He provided the would-be assassin with a map and detailed instructions as to how he wanted the crime carried out.
He attempted to throw cops off his scent by arranging the scuba-diving trip to Florida.
Rose Vincent testified against Mark Bowling
Bowling’s story came undone when Vincent decided to cooperate with authorities and testified against her murderous lover.
Bowling’s trial was to begin 2008 in Nash County but was moved to neighboring Pitt County due to the high publicity the case raised and a fear that the court wouldn’t be able to provide impartial jurors in Bowling’s home county.
Bowling initially claimed innocence, and his lawyers argued that Vincent had acted alone. The defense lawyers claimed Vincent had a “fatal attraction” for Bowling and murdered Julie so the pair could be together.
However, a week into the trial, Bowling dramatically changed his plea and declared himself guilty. He was convicted of second-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder and was sentenced to 15-years.
In 2018, Mark Bowling died of natural causes while serving time in prison at 47-years-old
Rose Vincent was convicted of second-degree murder and conspiracy to murder and was imprisoned for 29-years. She told the authorities, “I know I’m a big girl, but I wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t for him. I was like his puppet.”
More from Betrayed
Follow the links to read about more horrendous crimes of betrayal as profiled on Betrayed.
Previously on Betrayed, Donna Bocklet was a Long Island mother of two when her longtime neighbor Anthony Libardi tried to force himself on her. When she refused his advances, he throttled her to death.
Carol Ege gruesomely disemboweled her 7-month pregnant love rival Cindy Thompson in Michigan in 1984. Ege managed to avoid justice was nearly ten years until the law finally caught up her to her.
Watch Betrayed Mondays at 9/8c on Investigation Discovery.
Jerry Brown
Jerry was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, but is now based in the UK. He specializes in true crime and entertainment news stories. When not writing for Monsters and Critics he loves watching history and political documentaries, as well as any comedy show. He spent many years as a retail manager in the wine and whisky industry before trying his hand at writing. He holds a Degree of Master of Arts in History from Edinburgh University.