Execution date set for man who police say confessed to 6 murders, including two locally

Jacksonville, FL — An execution date has now been set for a man who investigators say confessed to killing six men across Florida, Georgia, and Maryland, including two local cases.

According to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' office, Gary Bowles' execution has been set for Thursday, August 22, 2019, at 6 PM. Bowles was sentenced to death for the 1994 murder of Walter Hinton in Jacksonville Beach.

According to investigators, Bowles met Hinton in Jax Beach in November 1994 and agreed to help Hinton move some items from Georgia to his home in Jacksonville. As part of that agreement, Hinton would allow Bowles to live with him.

At some point, while Hinton was sleeping, investigators say Bowles dropped a concrete block on his head. Investigators say Bowles then proceeded to strangle Hinton, killing him.

When Bowles was arrested, police say he confessed to Hinton's murder, as well as the murders of five other men. Bowles went on to plead guilty to three of those murders, including Hinton's. The other murder cases were out of Nassau and Volusia counties; in those cases Bowles got life sentences.

Investigators say based on their evidence from these cases, they believe he targeted gay men.