The murder of a rising Democratic politician has rocked the upscale gated community in Florida where she lived with her radiologist husband.
Nancy Metayer Bowen – the former Vice Mayor of Coral Springs who was reportedly planning a run for Congress – was found dead from gunshot wounds at her home on April 1.
Her husband, Stephen Bowen, a firearms enthusiast who regularly posted shooting content on social media, is being held without bond at the Broward County jail on charges of first-degree premeditated murder and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.
Now, the Daily Mail can share new unsettling details about Bowen's behavior after the alleged killing.
The 40-year-old allegedly scrolled on his phone, watched TV and napped on the couch for several hours after taking his wife's life, according to arresting documents.
The sudden burst of violence – and Bowen's actions after her death – have left friends and neighbors reeling.
'That's f***ed up,' says Randall Bridges, a friend of Bowen who says he has known him for years.
'I knew he could have a temper, that he was sometimes pretty hot-headed and he collected guns, but you don't think he'd do that to someone he loves.'
Friends say that Stephen and Nancy Bowen appeared to have a healthy marriage and had no indication of any domestic violence
The pair got engaged in 2022 and by all accounts appeared the happy couple
'And how can you sleep in the same house with your wife's body? That's the craziest thing I ever heard. It's on another level.'
Authorities allege in charging documents that Bowen used a shotgun equipped with a makeshift silencer, allegedly made with a pillow and string, to shoot Metayer Bowen after a contentious fight in the family's four-bedroom home.
Officers found her body wrapped in blankets with trash bags around her feet.
A neighbor told the Daily Mail they weren't completely surprised by the allegations.
'I don't want to be the guy who says he knew this was coming, but I'm not surprised this happened,' said Larry Singer.
'He was one of the guys who was friendly, outgoing. He made small talk all day. But there was a dark side. He looked like he was ready to lose his s***.
'He got worked up about things.'
Singer recounted one time when someone dented Bowen's car door.
'He talked about it like it was the worst thing in the world. He ranted and raved about it. He had a rage about him, bubbling under, just like you never knew if and when he was going to snap.
'There was a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde thing going on. A ticking time bomb. So I'm not completely surprised. I guess the dark side won out.'
Metayer Bowen, who was elected in 2020 and again in 2024, was the first Black and Haitian American woman commissioner of Coral Springs
Her husband was a gun enthusiast who regularly posted shooting content on his social media
According to the police charging affidavit, Bowen told the police as well as friends and family members that he had killed his wife.
Authorities say that he contacted his uncle, Owen Small, in an attempt to hide the shotgun used in the murders.
Approximately four hours after Bowen showed up at Small's home, the concerned uncle dialed 911 and asked police to perform a wellness check at the Bowens' house.
More than a dozen officers arrived at the house and broke in through the front door. Her body was found in an upstairs bedroom.
Bowen was arrested in a parking lot in Plantation, Florida, as he allegedly attempted to hand off what appeared to be 'a firearm-carrying case commonly used to transport rifles and/or shotguns' to a friend, according to the affidavit.
Police allege in their charging documents that Bowen waived his Miranda rights and provided a voluntary, recorded confession.
During his statement, he allegedly revealed that he and his wife had a domestic dispute the night before.
The argument grew more and more contentious until Bowen retrieved a shotgun and shot his wife three times, per the affidavit.
The killing has rocked the upscale gated community where the couple lived
Mourners laid flowers outside Coral Springs City Hall after Metayer Bowen's death
Bowen allegedly told detectives that he was at his 'breaking point' and that he 'couldn't take it anymore.'
Family members were shocked at the alleged admission.
'I never saw any indication of any issues,' a Metayer relative told the Daily Mail.
'They came to family events, cookouts, parties, dinners. Never anything but love and respect, that I could see.
'You never know what people are up to in their marriage, but I didn't see any warning flags at all.'
Bowen has been declared indigent and unable to pay for a lawyer. He was initially assigned a public defender.
But the Broward County public defender's office filed a motion on April 6 requesting to be dismissed from the case because of 'personal and professional relationships with the alleged victim.'
Bowen had only buried little brother, Donovan, in December after he died by suicide
'Based on the seriousness of the charge, it would violate Mr Bowen's rights to effective assistance of counsel, due process and a fair trial to be represented by an office whose top members had a personal and professional relationship with the alleged victim,' the motion reads.
If a judge grants the public defender's motion, another attorney not affiliated with the office would need to be assigned to the case.
The public defender's office did not respond to the Daily Mail's request for comment.
The murder comes less than four months after Metayer Bowen's younger brother, Donovan Metayer, was found dead from suicide. Donovan had survived the February 2018 Parkland School Shooting that killed 17.
'The shooting changed him, you could tell he was not OK,' friend Yvette Leyton told the Daily Mail. 'He got very introspective, very dark, very sad. It took away his joy and innocence. He really struggled.'
Now the family is processing a second death in the family.
'We're relying on our faith,' says the Metayer relative. 'It's been a very difficult season for this family.'
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