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Man Indicted For North Texas Clerk's Death

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Oct 15, 2008 8:07 am US/Central

Man Indicted For North Texas Clerk's Death

WICHITA FALLS (AP) ― A man was indicted on capital murder charges for an alleged crime spree that included killing a couple and setting their house on fire, then kidnapping a store clerk whose body was found the next day.

Wallace Wayne Bowman Jr., 30, of Bowie, was indicted Monday on two counts of capital murder and one count of burglary of a habitation, a first-degree felony.

Bond was set at $1 million on each capital murder charge and $200,000 on the burglary charge.

Jack McGaughey, district attorney for Archer, Clay and Montague counties, said Tuesday he has not decided whether to seek the death penalty, the maximum punishment for capital murder.

Bowman has been jailed since he was arrested at a Bowie motel Aug. 16, a day after his alleged crime spree in two rural North Texas counties.

A day earlier Bowman allegedly stole a handgun from a Bowie home and set it on fire, then went to another house and killed a couple, James Craig France, 54, and Karen Ann France, 52, according to the indictment. Their bodies were found later that day by firefighters responding to a blaze at the home.

Bowman then went to a convenience store in the town of Scotland, abducted clerk Melinda "Mindy" Daffern at gunpoint and later killed her, according to the indictment.

Store video shows an unmasked man approaching the counter, pointing a gun at her. A few seconds later, his gun still pointed at the 46-year-old, he walks behind her and forces her out of the store, according to the surveillance footage.

After Bowman was arrested, he led investigators to Daffern's stabbed and burned body in a remote area near Sunset, authorities said.

Bowman's attorney did not immediately return calls seeking comment Tuesday.

(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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