Thelma Maxwell Bowen was 75 and blind when she was murdered on October 6, 1990, in Goldsboro, North Carolina. She and her husband, Alvin Bowen, 78, were attacked at their home; Alvin was fatally stabbed, and Thelma was raped and strangled. Their house and car were set on fire after the killings.

The attack was later linked to Linwood Earl Forte as part of a series of violent crimes. DNA obtained after a 1996 conviction led to Forte’s arrest on April 30, 2001. At trial, jurors convicted him in October 2003 of the Bowens’ murders and other offenses, including first-degree rape and burglary; he was sentenced to death and received additional life terms for the rapes and related crimes. Forte also confessed at trial to another Goldsboro murder and was indicted for the 1994 killing of Dora Thomas.

The Bowens’ deaths devastated their community and are remembered for the particular vulnerability of the victims. Does anyone have memories of the Bowens or information about that period in Goldsboro?