The 31-year-old man was just beginning to show signs of schizophrenia when he crashed his car and repeatedly stabbed his wife, an attorney said
TRENTON - Just before Lewis Bowser started stabbing his wife, he said, "I told you - until death do us part," according to a letter from his wife that was read in court Friday.
That marked the beginning of a moment in 2015 when Bowser - the man his wife had loved and been with for 11 years - took a violent turn.
His attorneys said Friday that mental illness had a heavy hand in that switch.
Superior Court Judge Peter Warshaw sentenced Bowser, 31, of Hamilton, to five years in prison Friday - almost a year and a half after the incident on Jan. 15, 2015. Police have said Bowser and his wife - whose name has not been released - were arguing while driving on South Broad Street. Bowser crashed the car into a utility pole but didn't stop fighting with his wife. Instead, he pulled out a knife and started stabbing her repeatedly in the neck and face, police have said.
In her letter, Bowser's wife said he also bashed her head against the steering wheel and choked her before she was able to escape and get help.
She cried in court Friday as her words were read aloud by Mercer County prosecutors.
"I was not going to let this man take me away from my kids," the letter ended.
Bowser was initially charged with attempted murder but it was reduced to aggravated assault after he took a plea deal.
His attorney, Scott Krasny, argued that the attack was not normal for the 31-year-old father of two. Bowser was suffering from serious mental issues - namely, the beginnings of paranoid schizophrenia, Krasny said. A doctor had identified the mental illness in Bowser and said that he was having "delusional thoughts," according to a medical evaluation Warshaw referenced in court.
Some of those thoughts included believing people were "out to get him," and that food was poisoned, Krasny said.
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Testimony from friends who knew Bowser - at least in part - corroborated Krasny's argument.
"I know that he's been an upstanding citizen until this point," Manuel Rodriguez, a friend of Bowser's said in court Friday. "This does not define who he is."
But for prosecutors and the wife's family, the story is very different. Prosecutors argued that the attack was premeditated while family members called for the harshest prison sentence. The victim's sister-in-law claimed Bowser's wife hasn't been the same since the attack.
"It's been a long process of her going through this," the sister-in-law said through sobs as Bowser hung his head and buried his face in his hands.
"These kids are old enough to know... you don't understand what you've done to them."
Her voice rose as she addressed Bowser and called for a harsher sentence than the prosecutor's office had offered.
"She could have been dead... I don't feel like even five years is enough," the sister-in-law said.
Before sentencing Bowser to five years, Warshaw addressed the paranoid schizophrenia, depression and anxiety that the medical report said Bowser was dealing with. Warshaw, referencing the medical report, said that a doctor had even suggested Bowser go to Ann Klein Forensic Center.
However, Warshaw also noted how traumatic the attack had been - not only on the victim, but her family as well.
"I saw the absolute sense of terror," Warshaw said in court Friday.
"The victim is alive solely by the grace of god and not much else," he said before adding that he believed Bowser could commit a similar attack again.
Bowser will have to spend just over four years in prison before he is eligible for parole.
Anna Merriman may be reached at amerriman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @anna_merriman