-It was a
picturesque day in the happy town of Longdale, South Carolina. It was a town
near the beach, and short on crime. That was all about to change in the sleepy
little town of Longdale, population 1,000.
Jake Lipton was
a former Airman in the United States Air Force. He retired after serving nearly
20 years and two tours overseas. He was the least likely target for a vicious
murder.
Linda Bowers was
your typical Southern Belle and an implant from the large city of Columbia,
South Carolina. When she visited family in the small town of Longdale one
summer night, she met Jake Lipton at a bar and the two hit it off. So much so, 3
months later, they were engaged.
Linda Bowers was
only 24 years old, Jake Lipton nearly 20 years her senior. Despite the age
difference, the two really connected. Linda was a beautiful brunette with long
hair, green eyes, and the figure of a model. She immediately caught Jake’s eye
when they were introduced at the bar.
Linda and Jake
enjoyed the nightlife, and would spend time together cruising down the beach’s
strip, where Jake was known to spoil Linda with jewelry and clothes. On one
special day before their engagement, Jake even bought Linda the car of her
dreams. It was a black Chevy Corvette.
Linda grew up in
the city of Columbia, and by the age of 22, she had her own apartment, and a
job as a secretary. There was a secret side of her, however, and Jake would
find out the hard way.
Jake spent most
of his adulthood in the Air Force, and when he retired from the service, he
started his own business as a mechanic. Jake was born and raised in the town of
Longdale, and everyone there knew him. Anyone who ever knew Jake always had
nice things to say about him.
That’s why it
was such a surprise when he was murdered in cold blood. Jake was a big and
burly guy, and the identity of the murderer would take the sleepy little town
of Longdale by surprise.
3 months after
their engagement, Jake and Linda eloped. Things seemed to be happy at first,
but Jake was learning a whole new side of Linda; her true side. After a year of
marriage, the once happy marriage was hitting a new low. Jake learned over the
span of a year just how controlling and maniacal his new wife was. She refused
to let Jake even talk to his family, let alone his friends. Jake’s family was
eventually out of the picture completely, and Linda was now the sole focus in
his life.
Jake also found
out something else he didn’t like about Linda. She was an alcoholic, and used
alcohol to self-medicate. Linda Bowers was diagnosed as bipolar when she was
16, and she spent nearly 2 years in the mental hospital. She kept this a secret
from Jake, till he found out for himself just what was wrong with his wife.
After finding
out that Linda kept this a secret from him, Jake threatened to leave her. That
was until she unleashed a bombshell. Linda was pregnant with a boy. Jake
decided against leaving Linda to be there for their kid. Linda already
threatened that if he left Linda, he would never see his son. Faced with that
ultimatum, Jake decided to work things out. This would later turn out to be his
doom.
In truth, there
was no evidence that Linda was even pregnant. It was confirmed later on to be a
boldface lie. When Jake found out that Linda wasn’t pregnant, he angrily stormed
out of their 2 story house and never returned. This wouldn’t be the last he saw
of Linda, however.
Linda began to
call Jake on his cell phone night and day, begging that he would take her back.
She even promised to change. Jake, out of the goodness of his heart, decided to
give it another try. Linda however, had other plans. Due to Jake leaving her,
she felt betrayed. She no longer had feelings for Jake and was seeing someone
else. The last straw in Linda’s madness was the discovery of a 100,000 dollar life
insurance policy in Jake’s name. Revenge would be sweet, and so would the
money.
On June 3rd,
2011, Linda put her maniacal plan into action. As Jake was in bed, sleeping
opposite Linda facing away from her, Linda grabbed a pistol from her dresser
and shot him in the back of the head. She immediately called the police after
the murder and sounded distraught on the phone as she told her version of what
happened the night of Jake’s murder.
Linda was
brought in later for questioning, and she mentioned the two got into a heated
argument when Jake started hitting her. She showed the officers the bruises she
had on her arms to corroborate her story. She said that Jake threatened to kill
her and she shot him in self defense. The gunpowder residue on her arm proved
that it was her that fired the gun.
There were major
problems in Linda’s story, however. If the murder was in self defense, why was
Jake shot in the back of the head execution style while he slept? Also, the
bruises she showed on her arms could have been self-inflicted and Jake had no
history of past violence. In fact, his family said he would never hit a woman,
especially one he loved.
Another damning
piece to the puzzle was the life insurance policy of 100,000 dollars showed a
possible motive. Also, the officers discovered that Linda was having an affair
and promised the boyfriend half of the money when he testified against her in
court. The cops had the murder weapon, a possible motive, proof that Linda was
the one that fired the murder weapon, proof of an affair and plan to share the
money with her boyfriend, and the authorities had enough evidence to build
their case against Linda.
The authorities
charged Linda with the murder of her husband and the case went to trial. The
defense presented an insanity plea, due to Linda’s past mental health history.
It was known that Linda was bipolar and that she spent 2 years of her life in
the state hospital. The prosecution didn’t buy that plea for a second and
neither did the judge or jury.
The prosecution
had overwhelming evidence against Linda, and their star witness was her lover
Rick Wilson, who testified that Linda talked to him about killing her husband
and splitting the money with him. This proved without the shadow of a doubt
that the murder was premeditated, and Linda’s insanity plea was shattered
before her very eyes.
On trial, Linda
was only a fraction of her former beauty. The stress from the case took its
toll on Linda and she didn’t even look like the same woman Longdale once
admired. The jury reached a verdict. They found Linda guilty of First Degree
Murder and sentenced her to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The nightmare
was finally over. Longdale could now rest easy as the Belle from Hell was
behind bars for the rest of her life. Jake was laid to rest in Longdale
Cemetery as his family continues to grieve their loss. Thankfully, however,
justice was served…
