Miami County prosecutors said Bowen hid in plain sight in the home of Joseph Graley III, selling his drugs and using his car, after brutally killing him last October.
Defense lawyers said Bowen lied to several people about Graley but prosecutors failed to prove he killed his friend and left his body under a brush pile in the backyard of his Scarff Road home.
Jurors in Common Pleas Court heard testimony over three days before beginning deliberations around 3:45 p.m. Friday in Bowen’s trial.
He is charged with murder, gross abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence and safecracking.
During testimony, jurors heard Graley, 31, died of blunt force trauma to the head and neck in October 2014.
He was reported missing by friends and family Oct. 22 and his remains located the following day by cadaver dogs. Graley was last seen alive Oct. 8, according to testimony.
Bowen, 25, a former area resident moved in with Graley after returning to the area in September.
Witnesses said Bowen told various stories when they asked about Graley’s whereabouts. He told some Graley was in Michigan at a funeral with his mother and others he was in drug rehab or camping.
In closing arguments Friday, Janna Parker, assistant county prosecutor, said Bowen “laid low and played it cool. He told just enough lies.”
One thing he couldn’t lie about, prosecutors said, was DNA found on the handle of a sledge hammer located in a wooded area behind Graley’s house. Scientists testified tests of what was believed to be blood showed both Bowen and Graley’s DNA.
“You can’t ignore that his DNA is on the murder weapon. It is so powerful,” Parker said.
Defense lawyer Steve Layman disagreed. “To question Frank’s DNA found on a piece of equipment in the house where he lived is ridiculous,” he said.
Layman said prosecutors failed to prove Bowen was involved.
“Yes it was gruesome… But that doesn’t prove it was Frank,” Layman said.
He also claimed that testimony of prosecution witnesses changed over the months and questioned the handling of security at the Graley property before the body was found.
In the final closing remarks for prosecutors, Tony Kendell, county prosecutor, showed the jury a photo of a smiling Graley and two friends taken a few weeks before he died.
“This is Joe before the defendant came to stay with him,” he said. He then displayed a photo taken during the autopsy that showed multiple skull fragments resulting from what one witness said were multiple blows.
Jury deliberations are scheduled to resume at 9 a.m. Monday.
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