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Irish exec charged with killing wife

February 16, 2011

By Staff Reporter

By Patrick Markey

An Irish computer executive appeared in a California court this week to face charges he stabbed his wife to death with a kitchen knife last month in the couple’s Santa Clara home.

Colman Bowers, who is 45, has been charged with one count of homicide and is being held at Santa Clara County Jail, a spokeswoman for the county district attorney’s office said. Police officials said Bowers appeared in court Monday for arraignment and pleaded not guilty to killing his wife, Georgina Bowers.

According to police, Bowers had arrived in America from Ireland 12 years ago and secured a lucrative position as an executive vice president of a Silicon Valley computer company. The family lived in a middle-class neighborhood about 60 miles from San Francisco.

On Feb. 7, Bowers called his two sons on a cellular phone to tell them there had been an accident at the family home. The two teenagers rushed home and found their mother’s body in a back bedroom with a single stab wound to the chest, police said. Investigators found blood on the bed, and, inside the bathroom, the 8-inch serrated knife they believe was used in the killing.

A patrol car responding to a 911 emergency call found Bowers outside the house. As they pulled into the driveway, he shouted out, "You’re looking for me," according to police.

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Investigators are still trying to piece together what happened in the two hours between the sons leaving the home to go to a coffee shop at 3 p.m. and their father’s telephone call at around 5.

Police have seized Colman’s computer and downloaded e-mail messages his wife had sent to Ireland, according to Sgt. Anton Morec, a Santa Clara police spokesman. Those messages indicated Georgina Bowers had concerns over her husband’s drinking and over the family’s finances, Sgt. Morec said.

"We are exploring that avenue to see if we can find out what happened in those two hours," he said.

Investigators are also looking into Colman’s junkets to casinos in Reno, Nev. Recently, police said, the couple’s domestic arguments culminated in some discussion over whether Georgina Bowers would return to Ireland. She wanted to leave, but her husband was intent on staying in California.

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