I had someone ask me last night if I knew anything about Diane's killer.  I do not and was not able to find anything online.  Does anyone out there know if there was ever an arrest? Conviction? Length of sentence? A name?  Thanks, Terry

I never heard a word afterwards. I wonder how we could find out?

Hi all, Just picked up this thread, and it struck a chord... It has bugged me for years. I was questioned by the police at the time (you can imagine the trepidation of a 14 yr old boy 'helping police with their enquiries')...in a murder case. Was anyone else questioned at the time?

Apparently, she wrote about me in her diary, which they explored in depth...a schoolgirl crush which I was too immature to recognise, or if I did, too shy to ackowledge it. I was quite a late bloomer.

I actually knew her older sister a bit better, but I can't recall if it was from a church group...or the Drama Club? Does anyone know her sister's name...was it Debbie...or Sally? ( The mind goes first, they say..)

After all these years, I still think about her. It also marked the time when we all lost our childhood.

 very interesting, thanks for sharing your story.  Still no information about her killer though.  Someone will know, I just have to keep asking about her, thanks, Terry 

Richard Burdick wrote:

You are right Rick. It was Lisa. Good memory. I think we should ask Karen Milanese Worrall  if she could look up in the archives to see if anything was ever in the newspaper. Yes, Rick, thanks for sharing. Terry, I know I always wondered also. I will e-mail Karen.

Debbie

This website showed others around that time but the person writing it did not think she was connected to the others they wrote about. I included a quote from the site.

Diane Bowman, 14 of Torrington, 1972 "I read up this weekend about Diane Bowman of Torrington. She was kidnapped and stabbed. Her killer was identified and arrested but I dont know if he was found guilty or acquitted."

http://officialcoldcaseinvestigations.com/showthread.php?t=1396

Didn't find anything else on the web. I guess it was too long ago for web records.

Hi all,

I also believe she had a younger brother, Ross.  Does that sound right to anyone else?  I'm glad we're talking about this.  It seems alot of us have the same questions - hopefully someone will be able to supply us with the answers.  I remember Diane from the sixth grade - we were in Mrs. Nerintz's class at Wetmore School.   Diane was the smartest kid in class.  We always went to her when we needed an answer.

Diane Bowman was in Sunday school with me and I remember that she had a brother Ross.  I think her Mom's name was Evelyn.

Karen sent me some old newspaper articles on Diane. I will try to sum up what they say.

Weds. Feb 9,1972 First article about the murder. Describing the details that were available. She was found in Middlebury. The article is quite descriptive.

Nov. 16,1972 Arthur Hyde was found guilty of Diane's murder.

Nov. 18,1972 He was sentenced to 25 years to life. He unsuccessfully attempted to escape on the way to jail.

Hyde died in prison in 2003. He would have been eligible for parole in 2007. Police connected him to another kidnapping and connected him to Diane by his tire tracks. This was bfore DNA.

I will bring the article with me to the reunion.

Thanks for the info...I didn't know about that.

I often wondered if they caught the man or men involved in Diane's killing.    She was a sweet heart.  We attended confirmation classes together at St. Paul's Lutheran Church.  That's when we became close friends.  My pastor could hardly speak at the funeral.  I will never forget it.  I am happy to hear that her killer died in jail.

Hello- I am Susan's daughter; Kyla (23)- my mother mentioned this event in her life to me when I was home visiting  after seeing my mother went to dinner with some classmates. This topic came up I guess and the fact that there was little information on the case and how odd it was that when you guys were young you didn't hear anything/ much about it.  I got intrigued/ interested and so spent some time (quite a while since there is not much out there and it took a lot of digging)  but I found this stuff and figured I would share it with the ones interested.  Hope it is 'helpful' and I am sorry for all your loss.

Susan,

Thank you for sharing the information on Diane Bowman.  I also was very curious about Diane's case and had asked Debbie Killiany Stafford for more information about the case prior to my arrival for our 35th class reunion.  Debbie had a friend research the incident and had a few articles such as your daughter's expaining the situation. Diane was in my confirmation class at St. Paul's Lutheran Church and I remember our pastor being very vague about the circumstances of her murder.  I truly believe that our elders were trying to protect us from the truth. I always suspected that she was sexually assaulted but no one would answer my question.  We grew up in such a friendly environment as kids that no one wanted to destroy our small town, family oriented upbringing. The horrific incident will always stay with me.