Bowman was affiliated with the
Devils Diciples before joining the
Outlaws. Under Bowman's leadership, the Detroit Outlaws were the most senior of the approximately 35 biker gangs in the city, specializing in drug trafficking, prostitution, extortion, gambling and bombings. The
Detroit Partnership also began outsourcing enforcement work to the club, with Francesco "Frankie the Bomb" Bommarito acting as the
Mafia's emissary to the outlaw biker milieu in
Southeast Michigan. In June 1975, an alliance was formed between the Outlaws and
Satan's Choice, the largest biker gang in Canada. Under the terms of the agreement, the Outlaws were the exclusive distributors in the United States of the
PCP and
methamphetamine manufactured by Satan's Choice members in
Northern Ontario. In turn, firearms from the U.S. were trafficked into Canada. Another advantage of the alliance was a "fugitive exchange program", in which Outlaws members fleeing American law enforcement could be harbored by Satan's Choice in Canada, and fugitive Choice bikers could take refuge with the Outlaws in the U.S. Bowman spent time hiding out with the
Kitchener Satan's Choice chapter under the mutual aid pact. He was present at the Kitchener chapter clubhouse when Satan's Choice member
Lorne Campbell almost got into a fight with an Outlaws biker from
Nashville in a dispute over a mutual girlfriend. Campbell threatened to throw the Outlaw down a staircase but, following biker protocol, sent for Bowman before doing so. Bowman was able to mollify Campbell and save the Outlaw from harm. Campbell later characterized Bowman as "a nice guy". As the liaison between the Outlaws and Satan's Choice, the Detroit chapter became an important and powerful faction in the Outlaws organization. On March 3, 1982, Bowman allegedly killed 38-year-old Arthur Allen "Good Old Speed" Vincent, a probationary member of the Dayton Outlaws, for "running his mouth" at an Outlaws party during
Daytona Beach Bike Week in
Daytona Beach, Florida. Vincent was last seen entering a car with Bowman, Raymond "Roach" Ravalee and another Outlaw after bragging about crimes. He was then shot execution-style in the back of the head. Vincent's decomposing body was discovered on March 8, 1982, by a
Florida Power & Light crew in a ditch in a wooded area on Old Tomoka Road in
Ormond Beach near
Interstate 95. An autopsy revealed he had died by homicide. The murder remains unsolved.
International president Bowman succeeded Harry Henderson as Outlaws international president after his mentor resigned due to ongoing legal issues, and he was appointed the club's leader at a summit in
Joliet, Illinois in February 1984. By the early 1990s, Bowman maintained dual residency in Michigan and Florida. In addition to his wife and a
mistress in Detroit, he also had numerous girlfriends across the country. Bowman developed a reputation as a formidable, ruthless and inventive, but discreet
crime boss. He was "dead set" against publicity for himself or his club. Law enforcement described Bowman as the first "businessman biker boss" and credited him with pioneering the Outlaws' foray into more sophisticated
rackets and diverse business ventures beyond traditional motorcycle gang
fronts such as bars, strip clubs and tattoo parlors. A charismatic leader who showed genuine affection for his clubmates, Bowman inspired a devout loyalty from his underlings, which made it difficult for investigators to infiltrate his operations or develop informants inside his inner-circle. According to his bodyguard Christopher "Slasher" Maiale, Bowman "could stay awake for days at a time". Early in his presidency in 1984, Bowman ordered the murder of a former member of the Chicago Outlaws after becoming concerned that the ex-biker would reveal the whereabouts of a fugitive club member, and he assigned
Toledo, Ohio chapter vice president Wayne "Joe Black" Hicks to carry out the execution. Although Hicks failed to complete the assignment because he was unable to locate the former Outlaw, his dedication impressed Bowman, who subsequently transferred Hicks to the
Fort Lauderdale chapter in order to revive the club's faltering
South Florida faction. During the 1980s, the Outlaws and the Hells Angels were at war over control of the methamphetamine trade in the U.S. and Canada. In 1988, Bowman met with Hells Angels leaders to negotiate safe routes for members of both clubs to attend the federal courthouse in
Louisville, Kentucky, where ten Hells Angels members were standing trial accused of conspiring to bomb the Outlaws' clubhouse in the
Portland neighborhood of Louisville. During the negotiations, Bowman learned that Raymond "Bear" Chaffin, a former Outlaw and member of the
Warlocks in
Central Florida, had been contacting the Hells Angels in an attempt to have the Warlocks join the Angels. Bowman ultimately acquiesced his control of the gambling rackets, and the contract on his life was rescinded after Frank Bommarito brokered a "sitdown" between Bowman and
Anthony "Tony Jack" Giacalone, the Detroit Partnership's street boss and uncle of Jack Giacalone. In an attempt to quell the increasing tensions between the clubs, Bowman twice hosted peace talks with
George Christie, a national officer in the Hells Angels, in Florida, firstly in December 1992 and again in May 1993. According to Christie, he and Bowman were working towards a peace treaty when the Outlaws leader withdrew from the negotiations. Christie believed Bowman was persuaded to abandon a truce with the Hells Angels by one of his lieutenants, Kevin "Spike" O'Neill, who thought agreeing to a ceasefire would make the Outlaws appear weak. Ahead of a
Pro Stock Motorcycle drag race in
Milwaukee in June 1993 at which Patrick "Pat" Matter, the president of the
Minneapolis Hells Angels chapter, was expected to compete in full Hells Angels "colors", Bowman led a contingent of 25 to 30 Outlaws in confronting Matter. Bowman took offence to Hells Angels wearing their biker vests in Milwaukee, a city considered Outlaws territory, and arrived at Matter's motel in a
Lincoln automobile with a bodyguard wielding a
MAC-10 submachine gun, leading to an armed standoff with a group of Hells Angels who were positioned on the second floor of the motel. The Outlaws leader warned Matter that if he took part in the race while wearing his Hells Angels patch, he would "have a problem". Matter initially declared his refusal to acquiesce to the Outlaws' demands, but later reconsidered on the advice of Sonny Barger and East Coast Hells Angels president Kevin "K.C." Cleary. In late 1993, Outlaws leaders came to suspect that the Hells Angels were attempting to gain a presence in the Chicago area by "patching over" the Hell's Henchmen, a biker gang with chapters in Chicago,
Rockford,
Calument City, and
South Bend, Indiana. Initially a small club consisting of approximately twenty members, the Hell's Henchmen had co-existed with the Outlaws without violence as they showed no ambitions to expand. Bowman ordered Matter's assassination, and a hit squad consisting of James "Preacher" Schneider, Scott "Rhino" Hammond and Randall "Madman" Miller of the Outlaws' Milwaukee and
Janesville, Wisconsin chapters traveled to Minnesota to carry out surveillance on Matter ahead of a planned execution after they were provided with money, a weapon, and surveillance notes by Milwaukee chapter president Edward "Shock" Anastas. The Outlaws were unsuccessful in carrying out the killing, however, because the hit team never "got a shot at" Matter. Several months later, on December 15, 1993, Outlaws members attempted a
car bomb attack on Matter outside his custom motorcycle business, Minneapolis Custom Cycle. The attempt failed when the
C-4 bomb detonated prematurely, destroying Matter's truck and injuring the biker who planted the explosive. On December 31, 1993, Bowman gave a speech to hundreds of senior Outlaws members at a New Year's Eve party at a Fort Lauderdale hotel suite, announcing that the club would be escalating hostilities against the Hells Angels and their supporters in the coming year and demanding his followers carry out attacks around the country. Bowman's speech came exactly twenty years after the beginning of the Outlaws–Angels war, which started after Outlaws members in Florida murdered three Hells Angels bikers in retaliation for the beating of an Outlaw at a New Year's Eve party in
New York City on December 31, 1973. No casualties were reported, although a steel door to the clubhouse was damaged and windows on a number of buildings and parked cars in the area were shattered. The attack was the third-largest car bombing in United States history, surpassed only by the
1993 World Trade Center bombing and the
Oklahoma City bombing of 1995. The Hell's Henchmen "patched over" to the Hells Angels on December 10, 1994. At 8 pm on December 16, 1994, the Grand Avenue clubhouse went up in flames after being doused in petrol and was subsequently condemned and put up for sale. A group of around 40 Outlaws bikers celebrated by visiting the site and giving it
the finger. The Chicago Hells Angels subsequently relocated to the city's southern suburbs. Wally Posnjak, the president of the Outlaws' "Northeast" region, and Michael "Mad Mike" Quale, the former
Rochester Hells Angels chapter president, were killed during a brawl at the Lancaster National Speedway in
Lancaster, New York on September 25, 1994. Bowman rode his motorcycle at the front of Posnjak's funeral procession in Buffalo on September 29, 1994. A newspaper photograph then circulated of a member of the Fifth Chapter biker club hugging a Hells Angel at Quale's funeral, which took place in Rochester on October 1, 1994. The Fifth Chapter bikers were searched as they entered the compound, and once inside, they were seated around two picnic tables and surrounded by armed Outlaws. Lemunyon displayed the newspaper photograph which had infuriated Bowman and then began beating Fifth Chapter national president Mike Malone with a flashlight as the rest of the club's members were held at gunpoint. After being informed by Lemunyon that they could no longer exist as a club and ordered to remove their "colors", the Fifth Chapter members complied with the instructions before being attacked with bats and chains. Following the mass beating, the Fifth Chapter members were allowed to wash themselves and were told to return home without congregating or visiting hospitals and then mail any Fifth Chapter memorabilia in their homes to the Outlaws. On January 28, 1995, 34-year-old Fogg was executed via three gunshots to the back of the head, and his body was found in a pickup truck in a vacant lot near the Outlaws clubhouse on the east side of Gary. Fogg received an Outlaws funeral, which was held in nearby
Portage over two days in February 1995 and attended by club members from around the country, including Bowman and Gary chapter president Randy Yager. At the funeral, a rumor was circulated that Fogg had been shot by a policeman interested in the biker's girlfriend, although the Outlaws expressed no desire to seek revenge. Another plot by Lemunyon, Musher, Hilton and Robert "Broda" Gunther to firebomb a Warlocks clubhouse in
Brevard County was foiled by an FBI operation against the Daytona Outlaws. On February 27, 1995, the FBI raided the Daytona chapter's headquarters and arrested sixteen members on racketeering, conspiracy and arson charges. A bomb identical to the one used in Orlando which was constructed by Lemunyon was seized during a search of Lemunyon's residence. According to the
Chicago Crime Commission, the gangs signed a peace agreement in 1996. As per the accord, the Hells Angels capitulated in their attempt to establish a chapter within the Chicago city limits, but were permitted by the Outlaws to retain their chapter based in the suburb of
Harvey.
FBI's Most Wanted On November 14, 1996, Wayne Hicks and Houston Murphy were among ten Outlaws members arrested after being indicted on federal racketeering charges. The indictments were the culmination of Operation Silverspoke, a six-year
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) investigation into murders, robberies, bombings, drug trafficking, extortion and witness intimidation carried out by the Outlaws in Florida. Facing the possibility of life imprisonment, Hicks and Murphy turned state's evidence and testified against various Outlaws members, including Bowman. According to
Maryland State Police biker gang expert Lieutenant Terry Katz, Hicks became the "highest ranking Outlaw in its national organization to cooperate" with federal prosecutors. On March 14, 1998, Bowman was added to the
FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, with federal authorities offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. Although his notoriety in biker circles rivaled that of Sonny Barger, Bowman had kept a low profile among the general public during his criminal career prior to his listing on the most wanted list. In their search for Bowman, federal agents unsuccessfully raided Outlaws clubhouses in
St. Petersburg, Tampa, and other locations in Florida. He was represented by noted defense attorney Henry Gonzalez of Tampa. Due to prior incidents of the Outlaws attempting to interfere with judicial proceedings by intimidating witnesses, the court
sua sponte decided to empanel an anonymous jury, withholding jurors' names, addresses, and places of employment. Despite Bowman's objections, the identities of the jury remained classified throughout his trial. Courthouse security was also increased; additional guards were placed in the courtroom, visitors were required to pass through metal detectors, and the judge banned Bowman from handling any sharp objects, ordering him to use felt-tipped pens. The defense team maintained that Bowman was simply the leader of a motorcycle club and was the victim of rogue members who committed crimes without his knowledge or permission. Ten witnesses, including Bowman's elderly mother, were called by the defense. In an attempt to demonstrate a common purpose among the various Outlaws chapters, federal prosecutors introduced in court seized copies of the Outlaws bylaws containing the provision that only white males may be members of the club. Bowman objected to the documents being shown, arguing that the admission of the Outlaws' whites-only policy was inflammatory and prejudicial as he was not charged with any racially motivated crimes. The court refused to redact the policy from the copies of the constitution on display. On July 27, 2001, Bowman was sentenced to two terms of
life imprisonment, three terms of 28 years, two terms of ten years, and one term of three years, to run concurrently, by
James S. Moody Jr., Judge of the
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida. The judge waived a potential $2 million fine. The seat of power within the Outlaws subsequently shifted back to the club's traditional headquarters in Chicago. James Wheeler, who succeeded him as the international president of the Outlaws, was described by the crime reporter Scott Burnstein as "a considerably less successful leader than Bowman". Leroy "Black Region Roy" Frasier, a former
Bay City chapter president, filled the power vacuum left by Bowman in Michigan. The
Highwaymen overtook the Outlaws as the largest and most powerful motorcycle gang in the Detroit area at the beginning of the 21st century, and the Outlaws' ties to the Detroit Partnership were weakened when Frank Bommarito – who served as the Mafia's liaison to the club and had helped hide Bowman while he was a fugitive – was demoted from his post as a mob
capo by the newly appointed family boss Jack Giacalone in 2012. David "Davey Donuts" Aceto, who took over Bommarito's crew, reportedly lacked the connections to the biker scene on the east side of Detroit that his predecessor had. == Death ==