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Tuesday, Jul 24, 2012 12:45 AM UTC

Detroit-area man held in death, dismemberment case

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Detroit-area man held in death, dismemberment caseRoger Bowling stands during his arraignment in 24th District Court in Allen Park, Mich. on Monday, July 23, 2012 for the deaths of Chris Hall and Danielle Greenway who were found last week in the Detroit River. Police say they found "copious amounts" of blood in a Detroit-area home where Bowling is charged with fatally shooting the couple and dismembering the bodies. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)(Credit: AP)

ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) — Investigators found “copious amounts” of blood and other clues linking a man to the fatal shooting and dismemberment of a Detroit-area couple who had allowed him to move in a few weeks ago, police said Monday.

The details were disclosed during the first court appearance for Roger Bowling, who is charged with first-degree murder and other crimes in Allen Park, a Detroit suburb. The dismembered bodies of the victims were found last week miles away in the Detroit River.

The courtroom was filled with friends and relatives of Danielle Greenway, 32, and Chris Hall, 42. There was quiet tension in the room until police began escorting Bowling back to jail.

“Burn in hell!” Greenway’s mother, Lila Greenway, yelled. Others jeered too.

Meanwhile, Bowling’s former landlords said they evicted him from two houses this year after he failed to pay thousands of dollars in rent.

The 39-year-old handyman said nothing as District Court Judge John Courtright read the charges, which include murder, tampering with evidence and mutilation of bodies. No defense attorney was present, and Bowling was returned to jail without bond.

He was arrested Thursday in the home shared by Greenway and Hall, who had planned to marry. Bowling, apparently down on his luck, was allowed to move in a few weeks ago. He was Greenway’s former boyfriend from many years ago.

“Copious amounts of blood were found within the home” along with bullet fragments, Allen Park police Detective Sgt. Jon Mathis told the judge. “There was an attempt to clean up the crime scene.”

Mathis said Bowling previously lived in suburbs just east of Detroit, not far from where the bodies were found floating in the river near the Detroit-Grosse Pointe Park border. A power saw and suitcases were also discovered there.

As for a motive, “we’re not 100 percent sure,” Mathis later told The Associated Press.

Al Stone, a lifelong friend of the Greenway family, said Bowling retrieved cable TV equipment for a cable TV company. He said Greenway had a big heart, and “it blew up in her face.”

“He was always ‘poor me, poor me.’ She always felt bad for him,” Stone said outside court when asked why Greenway took Bowling in.

Hall’s sister, Laura Robichaud, said her brother brought her a cake on her birthday, July 4. She wished him a happy birthday via text message on July 15 but he didn’t reply.

“My brother wanted him gone,” Robichaud said of Bowling. “Maybe because (Bowling) and Danielle used to date and he remained a family friend.”

Before moving in with the couple, Bowling was forced out of two other Allen Park homes because he failed to pay rent, according to court records and interviews with landlords.

Bowling was evicted from one home in February after missing at least five monthly payments. He moved to another house but was out by May, leaving behind bullets and trash.

“He was a very bad guy for me,” said Alexandru Juhasz, Bowling’s landlord for three months. “He had a lot of cash for the first month, hundred-dollar bills. I never saw him again until I evicted him. He left the place like hell. It was full of dog (feces) and holes in the walls.”

More Ed White.

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