Model stabbed to death on her doorstep after friends' night out

UK Telegraph ^ | 9/27/05 | Duncan Gardham

[wagglebee]

A model who described herself as the "happiest girl in the world" was stabbed to death on her doorstep as she returned from a night out.

A neighbour found the semi-naked body of Sally Anne Bowman on her path early on Sunday morning. A post mortem examination found she had died from multiple stab wounds.

Miss Bowman, who celebrated her 18th birthday two weeks ago, was one of the leading models for an agency in Croydon, south London.

Vasco Rodrigues of Pulse Model Management said she had done four catwalk shows for designers in central London, including one at the Café de Paris in Piccadilly.

He said they were hoping that she would be signed up for London Fashion Week, adding: "She was supposed to be at a casting on Saturday for the closing show at London Fashion Week but she didn't turn up and I couldn't get hold of her on her mobile.

" She never turned her back on an assignment, always turned up on time and was always happy and cheerful." Peter Kaminski, the agency's director, said: "She had become the face of the agency and we used her in all our advertising.

''She came in with her mother in January to sign a contract with us and she was bright and bubbly.'' In a newspaper interview after the Alternative Fashion Week in March, Miss Bowman said: "At the moment I am the happiest girl in the world."

Police said Miss Bowman's body was found by a member of the public outside her home in Blenheim Crescent, Croydon. Det Chief Insp Stuart Cundy said Miss Bowman had spent Saturday night at a number of bars in Croydon town centre with friends.

He said she had last been seen on CCTV at 2am on her own in the centre of Croydon. An incident room has been set up in Sutton, south London, and police are appealing for witnesses. Mr Cundy said: "We need to know what happened in the next four and a half hours.

"We are appealing for anyone that may have seen her to contact us. A post mortem examination found she died from multiple stab wounds but we are still looking for a weapon. I am keeping an open mind as to the motive."

A neighbour in Blenheim Crescent said: "The guy who found her was out early in the morning and spotted what looked like a mannequin lying next to a skip. Apparently as he got closer he realised it was a naked body."

Another neighbour, Ray Cumpper, 51, said his wife, June, had heard screaming at around 4am. "It was a girl screaming at the top of her voice. She looked out of the bedroom window and saw someone walking past the builders skip outside the house, but she couldn't see anyone else and didn't think anything more of it."

Detectives yesterday arrested three men, aged 20, 25 and 26. The two older men were later released on bail.

[wagglebee]

Now THIS is a tragedy!

[Feiny]

If I heard someone screaming at 4 am , I would grab my gun & go check it out....but that is London & guns are illegal. If you can't defend yourself, why bother helping anyone else?

[Serb5150]

I'm not sure how anybody living in Croydon could be happy, but this is a very sad story.

[Tax-chick]

his wife, June, had heard screaming at around 4am. "It was a girl screaming at the top of her voice. She looked out of the bedroom window and saw someone walking past the builders' skip outside the house, but she couldn't see anyone else and didn't think anything more of it."

Gosh, if I heard a girl screaming at 4 a.m., I'd care enough to call the cops, or even send my husband outside to see what was going on. But then, we're allowed to have guns, and most people on my street do.

The poor young lady.

[ncountylee]

Prayers offered.

[pissant]

The pleasure I'd take in catching and killing a scumbag murderer like this is immeasurable!!

[SirJohnBarleycorn]

When burglaries started spiraling up some years back, the impression I had was that the police weren't taking the problem seriously because they were only property crimes.

And now violent crime is up as well, and the criminal culture seems to have really taken hold in Britain. The well-publicised prosecution of Mr. Martin, the fellow who shot a burglar invading his home, sent exactly the wrong message.

[SirJohnBarleycorn]

his wife, June, had heard screaming at around 4am. "It was a girl screaming at the top of her voice. She looked out of the bedroom window and saw someone walking past the builders skip outside the house, but she couldn't see anyone else and didn't think anything more of it."

A little bit reminiscent of the Kitty Genovese case in New York many years ago in which a young lady was stabbed to death on the street, many neighbors heard the whole thing and no one lifted a finger to help her.