A Corrimal man who raped and killed an 81-year-old grandmother as she walked home on Keira Street in 1988, is likely to die in jail after falling seriously ill with more than two years of his sentence still to serve.
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Sidney Justin Bowtell was briefly released to Darlinghurst’s Sacred Heart Hospice for palliative care on January 14 on the strength of expert medical advice he is ‘‘incapacitated’’ and has only weeks to live.
The 44-year-old was returned to custody on Tuesday in the same condition, according to the State Parole Authority.
Bowtell was a mop-haired 17-year-old on bail for armed robbery on September 21, 1988, when he spotted frail Anne Gladys Motbey walking home from carpet bowls.
He ran at her from behind, grabbed her by the throat and dragged her into the Goodyear premises.
He removed her clothes, raped her and went through her purse before placing her naked body in an industrial waste bin to be discovered the next day.
A court later noted Mrs Motbey was ‘‘probably dead, or at least unconscious’’ when Bowtell committed the rape.
On July 20, 1989, Judge Jane Mathews sentenced Bowtell to life in prison, after noting a damning report by psychiatrist John Robert Strum.
‘‘I must stress that this man is incurable, violent, incapable of learning or of changing, and is a danger to be at large,’’ Dr Strum wrote.
‘‘He was unable to control his rages and his predilection for mixtures of alcohol and marijuana, a combination which...is like a fuse to the dynamite of his personality disorder.’’
But in 2000 the sentence was reduced to 21 years with a minimum term of 15 years, largely due to positive psychiatric reports showing Bowtell had been diagnosed with ADHD and had been prescribed appropriate medication.
‘‘The medication has led to a marked improvement in his concentration and perseverance, as well as his ability to deal with conflict in a mature way,’’ the resulting judgment noted.
Six months later, Bowtell escaped from Grafton Correctional Centre with fellow inmate Ronald James Anderson and the pair took turns brutally raping a woman they gagged, tied up and kidnapped.
He received more lengthy prison time for the fresh offending, but these sentences were later whittled back on appeal so that he became eligible for parole in September last year.
He was refused.
His total jail term will end in September 2017.
Ms Motbey’s family would not comment on recent developments relating to Bowtell’s health, other than to say they were glad he had been returned to jail after his time in the hospice.
A spokesman for the State Parole Authority would not say what had prompted the decision to return Bowtell to prison, but confirmed his prognosis remained terminal.
At the time of the killing, Bowtell was in a dysfunctional relationship with a woman 20 years his senior.
He was ‘‘utterly obsessed’’ with the woman and became distraught when she told him she had begun another relationship with a man he had previously trusted, his former youth counsellor.
On the day of the killing Bowtell was drinking, then, in the evening, went to a club in Wollongong with friends.
He departed on foot after the friends left without him and ended up on Keira Street, where he saw Mrs Motbey, a stranger.
In a recorded interview with police, Bowtell explained the link between his failed relationship and the attack.
‘‘I was just thinking of my ex-girlfriend and how to get revenge and I just got real angry and I just wanted to let my aggression out and I seen this lady,’’ he said.
‘‘I walked up behind her and started strangling her and punching her.’’
He went to jail with a mental age of about 13 as a result of drug and alcohol abuse, according to court reports.
Four psychiatrists including Dr Strum gave evidence Bowtell suffered from borderline personality disorder, which triggered his extreme reaction to the break-up.