MCS-7
The Case of the Final Deep Sleep
William Wayne Lowes, 47, a truck driver for Cauble & Field Fruits & Vegetables in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, did not show up for work on Saturday, October 20, 1990. His employer notified his brother, who found the body of William Wayne Lowes lying in his blood-soaked bed at his home at 202 South Pacific in Cape Girardeau.
His brother called the police immediately. The Major Case Squad was soon activated.
The body of William Wayne Lowes was lying in his bed, the covers pulled up to his chin, the bedsheet still clutched in one of his hands. His head was caved-in. Blood was splattered all over the room, splashed over all four walls, but especially upon the ceiling directly above the victim’s head.
It was readily apparent to the crime scene investigators that the killer had stood next to the bed, repeatedly striking Lowes upon the head, thereby flicking Lowes’ blood up onto the ceiling of the room with every repeated swing of whatever blunt object was used to do the killing.
No blood was found anywhere else in the house, except in this bedroom and on two spots on the wall outside the bedroom door that appeared to be a continuation of a splatter that was on the bedroom wall. It was clear that the entire attack had taken place while Lowes was lying in his bed.
Medical Examiner Mary Case, who did the autopsy, confirmed that the cause of death was blunt trauma to the brain from at least four blows to the head. She also noted no wounds to the hands nor arms that one would expect to find had Lowes seen the blows coming and put up his hands or arms to defend himself.
It seemed quite likely that he had been killed while he was sleeping. He had probably gone to bed and never knew what hit him.
The victim’s wallet was found in his pants pocket on the floor. It contained several checks, but no cash.
Investigators quickly established that Lowes had last been seen alive on Thursday, October 18, 1991. He had been at work that day, as usual, and left for home at about 5:00 p.m.
He was never seen alive again by anyone but his killer.
William Wayne Lowes had been a reliable employee for Cauble & Field. He had no known enemies. He had been married to Wanda Kay Knupp Lowes, the mother of a young man named Brian K. Crews, 18. Lowes and Wanda had recently divorced, but had gotten back together and cohabited for a while, even after the divorce. Brian K. Crews had lived with his mother and Lowes in the past as a family unit, but at the time of the murder Wanda had recently moved out and William Wayne Lowes was living alone at his home.
A shoeprint from a tennis shoe was found on the ground outside a window of William Wayne Lowes’ home. It was photographed and a plaster cast was made from it.
Investigators learned that at the time of the killing, Lowes’ ex-wife was still listed as the beneficiary of his life insurance policy. Her son, Brian, knew about it and had talked about it.
Several friends of William Lowes mentioned that he had been having some family troubles with his ex-wife and his former stepson. The teenager began emerging as the main suspect.
Investigators learned that Brian K. Crews was on a camping trip with friends. When they finally interviewed him three days later he first claimed that he had not seen Lowes in several weeks.
Investigators questioned friends of Crews. The 31-year-old man who had accompanied him on the camping trip finally admitted that he been with Crews on the night of the killing, Thursday, October 18, 1990. The man had waited outside while Brian K. Crews went inside. He admitted that Crews came back outside carrying a 31-inch long wooden axe handle, which he later tossed onto the flat rooftop of a nearby house. He admitted that Crews had blood on his face and hands and bragged about killing Lowes while Lowes slept in his bed.
Investigators located and seized the axe handle. On it they found blood and hairs matching to William Wayne Lowes.
They also searched the bedroom of a house where Brian K. Crews had slept when recently staying with friends. They found a bloodstain on one of Crews’ shirts that matched to Lowes’ blood type.
The shoe print found upon the ground outside the house of the victim also matched to Nike tennis shoes owned by Brian K. Crews.
Brian K. Crews ultimately confessed to the murder. He admitted in a tape-recorded statement that he did the killing. He claimed Lowes attacked him with the axe handle in the hallway near the kitchen, but that he had taken it away from Lowes and hit him with it. He said he carried Lowes to the bedroom, then hit Lowes several more times as Lowes lay in his bed. Crews said he had "just lost it" as he thought of how much pain Lowes had caused his mother.
Crews also admitted that at the time of the killing he was aware that his mother, Wanda, was still listed as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy of William Wayne Lowes, even though they were divorced, and that he and his mother had talked about the existence of the policy earlier on the same day as the killing, although she had no idea what he was thinking of doing.
Crews went to trial for first degree murder and armed criminal action. The jury found him guilty. On August 7, 1991, Circuit Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh, Jr., sentenced him to life in prison without parole for first degree murder, plus five years in prison for armed criminal action.