The state Supreme Court unanimously upheld the conviction and sentencing of a Clarksburg man who raped an 83-year-old woman when he broke into her home in 2001.
Adam Bowers, 31, is serving 30 to 70 years in prison for two counts of first-degree sexual assault and one count of burglary. Bowers is also serving an additional 40 years in prison for first-degree robbery in the incident.
Bowers’ lawyers say Harrison County Judge Thomas Bedell should have allowed the jury to hear evidence about co-defendant Joseph Buffey, but the Supreme Court said the DNA evidence, along with other evidence presented, was sufficient enough to convict Bowers of the crime regardless of the evidence related to Buffey.
Bowers became a suspect more than 10 years after the 2001 attack, when DNA evidence was matched to him.
Buffey was recently released from prison after entering guilty pleas to burglary and robbery and serving nearly 15 years in prison. The sexual assault charges against Buffey were dropped.
