WINONA LAKE – Adrian Bowdler was 2 years old when his father, Omar Mora, killed his mother, Lisa Bowdler, in 2007.

On Wednesday, the 12-year-old played a flute solo of “Villanella” in memory of his mom at The Beaman Home’s annual Angels of Hope Luncheon. His grandmother, Linda Bowdler, then took the stage to recount her daughter’s tragedy.

In introducing Linda, Beaman Home Executive Director Tracie Hodson said, “In May 2007, she and her two grandsons watched her daughter, Lisa, be murdered at the hands of Lisa’s husband and the father of her two boys. For the last 10 years, Mrs. Bowdler and her family have struggled with the reality of living without their beloved daughter and knowing that the murderer has never been found.”



A Unique Little Girl

Lisa was born May 5, 1975, and Linda said right away she and her husband, Bill, realized they had a unique little girl. She walked at 10 months, climbed trees by age 2 and memorized the 23rd Psalm by 3. Lisa loved music and could play any song on the piano if she heard it. She eventually became and loved being a big sister to Jeannine and Sherry.

At Warsaw Community High School, Lisa participated in track, select chorale and academic bowls. She graduated from college with honors with a degree in social work. She developed a love for other cultures, and visited Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Brazil.

“She had a very sensitive heart. She was very interpersonal and she loved the elderly and individuals with special needs,” Linda recalled.

During Lisa’s senior year at Goshen College, she was introduced to Omar.

“Omar was a newly arrived, illegal in America, living with his brother in Goshen. He couldn’t speak English and he couldn’t drive a car. Now Lisa, who always wanted a social cause, found one in Omar, and she poured herself into helping him accomplish these things. In fact, the day of her death, papers finalizing his American citizenship were found on her bed,” Linda revealed.

The relationship between Lisa and Omar turned romantic and they married. Prior to her death, they had just purchased a new home.

Lisa loved her children, especially since she had miscarried twice before giving birth to her oldest, Jovan, who is now 18.

An Unpredictable Behavior

“After years of being a faithful, loving wife and mother, she confided in my sister, her aunt, that she was struggling with her husband’s unfaithfulness and abusiveness, and it was taking a toll on her,” Linda said.

Lisa also told a leader in her Bible study about her struggles. After the conversation, she confronted her husband and shared her plans to possibly leave the marriage. Lisa wanted to save the marriage, and Omar did go with her to some counseling sessions.

“But at the same time, we learned later from police records, that he was seeing other women; practicing the very next day after the conversation at the gun range; and became possessive and then controlling of Lisa,” Linda said.

Omar became unpredictable in his behavior, Linda continued. He would sit outside Lisa’s workplace, not allow her to be alone with family members without his presence, and physically abused her in front of their 2- and 7-year-old sons.

“Warning signs were beginning to pop up,” Linda said.

Two weeks before Lisa’s death, Linda was visiting Lisa at her home. Omar burst in and was “very irrational.”

“As we sat there trying to reason with him, Lisa said this comment: ‘Am I going to be another statistic? Will I be a wife killed by my husband?’”Linda said.

Lisa and her boys went to her parents’ house that night and stayed for a few days. Omar, full of promises, talked her into going home.

On May 23, 2007, after work, Linda told Lisa she could pick up Jovan and take him to her church’s Bible club.

“When I arrived, Lisa was in a total frantic, stating that Omar had just arrived earlier. He had stormed into the house, accusing her of all sorts of things. She showed me where he had broken all the phones and telephones and he had taken all the car keys. Lisa said, ‘I’ve called Dad and he’s on his way.’ I told her we needed to go right away,” Linda said.

While they were gathering the boys together in an interior hallway that led to the back bedrooms, gunshots were fired through the door from the garage into that hallway.

Then Mora busted open the door and continued to shoot. Bullets missed Adrian and went into the wall near where Jovan was watching television. Lisa had already taken two bullets.

“I remember this as clear as if it were today,” Linda said. “She knelt down at the end of the hall and said, in a very controlled voice, ‘Omar, please do not kill me, please do not take my life.’ But at that time, he put the gun to her head and fired.”

Harpal Singh, 38, Warsaw, also was killed that day by Omar.



A Surreal Life

The weeks after Lisa’s murder felt very surreal, Linda said.

“But with our faith in the Lord, the support of our churches, our neighbors and friends we have, we continued and we do so now today,” she said.

The boys came to live with their grandparents, but there were still tears, sleeplessness, embarrassment and rude remarks from people they didn’t know.

Between the boys and her aging father-in-law coming to live with them, working part time, all the counseling sessions and her ministries, it took a toll on Linda. She developed post-traumatic stress disorder and an anxiety disorder. She had to quit her job and struggled through each day.

“We also felt as a family that our daughter’s death, and the public circumstance surrounding it, has stripped our family naked in front of the public,” she said, recalling the interviews with news reporters, 911 calls aired on television five or even 10 years later, phone calls from strangers and even “America’s Most Wanted” wanting to do a story. They declined.



A Pain To Share

Linda said God has used her family’s pain to connect to others. She also talked about the need for a voice to speak for the invisible victims of domestic violence.

As an example of the effect domestic violence has on children, she shared passages from journals she kept.

May 16, 2011: “Jovan shared with me today that last night he had a dream. His dad was coming back to murder him and it would be on May 29. On that date, can I please sleep in your bed?”

July 31, 2012: “I put (Adrian) to bed that night and he said he was feeling very lonely despite having such a great day. He said, ‘Nana I am different. I am different than kids in my class. I have no mom and no dad. All my friends have a mom. I want a mom. I want a mom of my own I can feel, hold and snuggle with. I just want my own mom.’”

Linda recalled that at first Jovan was terrified of his dad. Later, he decided to put his dad’s picture out because maybe he wasn’t so bad after all, and asked if he could still love his dad. Now, as an 18-year-old, he asks, “How could my dad have done this to me?”

Police believe Mora is in Mexico. When his truck was found in Chicago, photos of his sons were found on the truck seat, closing that chapter of his life.

Linda quoted missionary William Carey as saying, “When I die, I don’t want anyone to talk about William Carey. I want you to talk about William Carey’s God.”

She said, “I’m sure if Lisa was here today, she would say, ‘Don’t talk about my death, but about Christ and whatever glory that can come to Him, and that will be accomplished through my death.”



A Place For Victims Of Violence

After thanking Linda for sharing her story, Hodson shared how in 2017 the Beaman Home provided over 6,000 emergency shelter nights to 196 victims who had fled abusive relationships and had no safe place to go.

“These were women, men and children who had left everything familiar behind to escape from their personal nightmare of loving someone who professed to love them one minute and then tore them down the next,” Hodson said.

Many times a person who enters the shelter is physically battered and bruised, but every time they are mentally exhausted and emotionally drained, she said.

Monthly contributions from the Lisa Bowdler Angel Society members help fund Beaman Home’s services, including 10 percent set aside for future projects.

Hodson said Beaman Home has a paid staff of 20 and 101 volunteers who gave nearly 8,000 hours to serve those seeking help last year.

In 2017, it moved into its new shelter and tripled its bed capacity, and this year it’s trending toward surpassing that goal as use of its programs increases every month.

Beaman Home needs nearly $1 million a year to provide the services that it does. Hodson said 52 percent of its funding comes from government sources because it provides services to victims of crimes and houses victims who are now homeless. United Way provides an additional 18 percent of its revenue. The remaining 30 percent comes from the community and donors.

More information on The Beaman Home can be found at www.thebeamanhome.com.

Its 24-hour toll-free hotline is 877-725-9363; email is [email protected]; and Facebook is www.facebook.com/TheBeamanHome.