Serial Killer Who Targeted Gay Men Executed

Update: Gary Ray Bowles died by lethal injection. Gov. Ron DeSantis' office confirmed to the Associated Press the sentence was executed at 10:58 p.m. That came shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court denied a last-minute appeal.

---

A serial killer convicted of murdering at least six gay men will be executed in Florida on Thursday evening.

Gary Ray Bowles was convicted in 1994 of murdering Walter "Jay" Hinton in Jacksonville Beach, Fla., according to the Associated Press. But that murder was one of at least six for which Bowles was convicted or to which he confessed.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the death warrant for Bowles in June.

Known as the I-95 Killer, Bowles drifted up and down the Eastern Seaboard preying on gay men. Various documentary series about serial killers have dealt with Bowles's killing spree, and Bowles himself gave numerous interviews. In them, he alleged that his stepfather had molested him for years.

He told Rachael Bell of TruTV he had fled abuse in his home at age 13 and worked as a rent boy for years, and he said he never identified as gay.

Florida law enforcement says Bowles committed his first murder in March 1994, when he killed John Hardy Roberts, a man who offered him a place to live for a short period. Daytona Beach police quickly identified Bowles as a suspect, as he had stolen Roberts's ATM card and was caught on camera trying to use it to withdraw money from a bank. But police could not find Bowles, who went on the run after fleeing Roberts's home.

While his name appeared in the FBI's 10 Most Wanted Fugitives List, he killed five other men, including David Harmon, Milton Bradley, Alverson Carter, Albert Morris, and finally, Hinton.

Every victim killed was found with their mouths filled with grime, be it leaves, toilet paper, or dirt. In one case, Bowles put a sex toy in his victim's mouth, the AP reports.

Hinton's family found him in his home after the man failed to attend his sister Belinda's birthday party. Belinda later told the A&E series The Killer Speaks she had met Bowles once, who at the time was going by the fake name Tim Whitfield, when her brother brought him over to visit. She recalled him being charming and friendly, but said her brother started to complain his new roommate would constantly bring women over and act abusive.

At the trial where Bowles was convicted of murdering Jay Hinton, Belinda said the killer showed no emotion at his sentencing and winked at the her on the way out of court.

Bowles previously served eight years in jail in Tampa after being convicted of beating and raping a previous girlfriend.

Police believe Bowles's killing spree, which claimed lives in Florida, Georgia, and Maryland, would have continued had he not been caught after Hinton's death.

"He probably enjoyed it after a while," Daytona Beach Det. Thomas Youngman told the AP.

"Why do you kill people after the first one? The first one could be a mistake, maybe," Youngman said. "But then the second, all right, I'll maybe give you that. But the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth?

"When do you stop?"