COPS THINK MAN KILLED OVER DRUGS

Friend Blames 'Jail Politics' On The Street For Shooting

Police say they know who killed Kevin Bowser - it was another drug
trafficker.

Mr. Bowser, 28, of Dartmouth died on a Halifax sidewalk Saturday night
after he was gunned down as he was leaving the home of his
ex-girlfriend and two daughters.

"We always know within a very short period of time who's responsible
for these types of things," Chief Frank Beazley of Halifax Regional
Police said Monday. "I'm comfortable that we know who's responsible
for that one.

"We know the victim has had a background in crime and the suspect that
we're looking at also is involved in drug trafficking. That's about as
much as I can say publicly right now."

Despite his confidence that police know the killer's identity, they
still have their work cut out for them, Chief Beazley said.

"Now it's that slow, long process of gathering evidence you need to
put somebody before the courts," he said. "If you can get that evidence."

Police have concerns that someone involved in drugs with Mr. Bowser
may want to retaliate for his death.

"That possibility's out there and that's why I've taken some special
measures, which I can't discuss publicly, to deal with these groups,"
the chief said.

Mr. Bowser had an extensive criminal background but those who knew him
described him as a well-mannered, typical guy.

"I'd trust him with my life," said a lifelong friend who wished to
remain anonymous. "He was a very nice standup guy who was always there
if you needed him.

"He fell into a little drug problem. That's about it, just a typical
guy in and out of jail who never sold drugs but was dependent on them.

"But no one deserves to go out the way he did. The people that did it
to him are doing the same thing that he did to get shot like that."

The friend blamed the correctional system for giving Mr. Bowser
painkillers and Valium so that when he got out of prison "he didn't
even know how to act normal."

"He was a product of the system big-time, like most of us out here.
I'll miss him."

The friend said he last saw Mr. Bowser 45 minutes to an hour before
the shooting.

"I don't understand how it could happen because when I left he was
surrounded by a good five to 10 so-called friends that night," the
friend said.

"He was having a good time playing with his daughter on the front
lawn.

"It's jail politics being brought out to the street. All these
shootings are jail politics."

Sheriff's deputies at Dartmouth provincial court described Mr. Bowser
as a co-operative prisoner during his court appearances over the
years. He was quiet and always showed respect, one officer said.

While police are releasing few details about the shooting, a source
said four shots rang out in rapid succession before a male voice was
heard uttering gutter slang and then a fifth shot was fired.

There are unconfirmed reports Mr. Bowser was struck five times - twice
in the back and three times in front. None were believed to be head
wounds.

The murder weapon was likely a small-calibre handgun, the source
said.

Mr. Bowser's ex-girlfriend Melissa Israel, her mother Kim and another
woman sat on the steps in front of their Uniacke Square house Monday
but went inside when a reporter approached.

Other neighbours wouldn't comment on the killing.

"Why can't you let them mourn?" one woman said.

Saturday's shooting was the fourth in Halifax since July 1, and Chief
Beazley said all have at least one thing in common.

"The common thread is drugs," he said.

The chief doesn't think there are more weapons in Halifax now,
although more people may be prepared to use them.

"I don't think there's more guns on the street," he said. "I think
you're dealing with a subculture that seems to advance to a certain
point where they're using guns."

The shootings have him concerned, he said. He recalled another busy
time, in 1998, when there were four murders in a week. He said some of
those killings were related, unlike this month's shootings.

"The difficulty with these (recent) ones is they are not interconnected," he
said.

Chief Beazley said the area around Uniacke Square has an adequate
police presence and crime has dropped since a new policing system was
brought in. It includes foot patrols along with the standard patrol
cars.

"That area has a great deal of policing," the chief said, before
adding: "It's hard to control two people who don't like each other."

The first in the recent series of shootings was on Canada Day when a
man was shot in the leg outside a house party on Morris Street. Police
want to question Michael Charles Howe, 22, but haven't tracked him
down yet.

The other two shootings took place a few hours apart a week ago.

Terry Marriott Jr. was hit in the hip and armpit area in the front
yard of 490 Herring Cove Rd. at 9:20 p.m. last Tuesday. At about 1
a.m., a 24-year-old man was shot in the leg in the area of Bilby and
Isleville streets.

Neither of those victims is co-operating with police and no arrests
have been made.