The Trail Went Cold - Episode 428 - Johnny Bowman

The Trail Went Cold

Robin Warder

True Crime, Tv & Film

4.5 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 23 April 2025

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

August 19, 1984. Manassas, Virginia. At around 4:15 AM, the doorbell rings at the residence of Johnny Bowman, a 31-year old trooper with the Virginia State Police. When Johnny answers the door, he is viciously attacked by an assailant who stabs him over 40 times before fleeing the scene and they leave behind a wig, glasses and hardhat which were possibly used as a disguise. Years later, investigators announce that their prime suspect is Perry Worrell, a former state trooper who happened to be one of Johnny’s closest friends, and they believe the murder was committed over some sort of personal dispute. However, there is not enough evidence to make an arrest and the crime continues to be surrounded by unanswered questions. On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore the murder of a Virginia state trooper which has gone unsolved for over 40 years. Additional Reading: https://www.odmp.org/officer/2106-trooper-johnny-rush-bowman https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/seeking-info-in-1984-murder-of-virgina-trooper-johnny-bowman-092418 https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/seeking-info/trooper-johnny-rush-bowman https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/washingtondc/news/press-releases/advancements-in-forensic-technology-renew-investigation-into-30-year-old-murder-of-virginia-trooper https://abcnews.go.com/US/fbi-solve-1984-murder-virginia-state-trooper-stabbed/story?id=58091478 https://www.wric.com/news/virginia-news/northern-virginia/decades-old-of-virginia-state-trooper-remains-unsolved-vsp-continues-to-pursue-leads/ https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/murder-of-virginia-state-police-trooper-still-unsolved-35-years-later/65-83929bda-2a59-40b6-b038-3f9ca43c7363 https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2004/08/20/20-years-later-still-tracking-a-killer-of-one-of-their-own/41c88673-53e1-4b7e-b529-023e74f6d117/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/renewed-push-to-solve-virginia-state-troopers-1984-murder/2012/08/15/6ed57874-e6ff-11e1-936a-b801f1abab19_story.html https://wjla.com/news/local/johnny-bowman-murder-fbi-police-step-up-investigation-into-1984-murder-78848 https://www.newspapers.com/image/1142213702/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/917727554/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/984481810/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/984481897/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/984401040/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/984401500/ https://www.newspapers.com/image/985892491/ "The Trail Went Cold" will be appearing at the True Crime Podcast Festival, taking place at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel Boston North Shore in Boston, Massachusetts on July 18-20, 2025. To get a 20 % discount on tickets, please use our specialized promo code, “ROBIN20”, by visiting https://www.truecrimepodcastfestival.com/. “The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon. Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content. The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote. All music is composed by Vince Nitro.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	August 19, 1984.
0:03.6	Manassas, Virginia.
0:05.6	At around 4.15 a.m., the doorbell rings at the residence of 31-year-old Virginia State Police Trooper Johnny Bowman.
0:13.3	When Johnny answers the door, he is viciously attacked by an assailant who stabs him over 40 times before fleeing the scene,
0:19.7	and they leave behind a wig,
0:21.6	glasses and hard hat, which were possibly used as a disguise.
0:25.6	Years later, investigators announced that Johnny may have been murdered by a fellow
0:29.6	state trooper over a personal dispute, but there is not enough evidence to charge them,
0:34.6	and the crime remains unsolved.
0:36.6	After that, the trail went cold.
0:40.3	The trail went cold. The
0:57.0	The Hello everyone and welcome to our latest episode of The Trail Went Cold. I'm your host
1:21.1	Robin Warder, and on this episode, we're going to be exploring the brutal death of a trooper
1:25.9	from the Virginia State Police,
1:28.1	the 1984 murder of Johnny Bowman.
1:31.2	I received a request to cover this case a few years ago, and while I've done a couple of episodes
1:36.0	about the unsolved murders of law enforcement officers, this is a particularly unique one
1:41.2	which stands out from the rest.
1:43.6	Johnny Bowman was not killed in the line of duty,
1:46.2	but was viciously attacked inside his own home while his wife, daughter, and brother were present.
1:51.6	At 4.15 in the morning, Johnny was awakened by the sound of a ringing doorbell, and when he answered the
1:57.0	door, and assailant proceeded to stab him no less than 42 times before fleeing the
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 7 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Robin Warder, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Robin Warder and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.