No bond for teen accused of Amanda Bach murder
By James D. Wolf Post-Tribune correspondent November 16, 2011 4:44PM
Dustin McCowan, 19, is led away from the Porter Cunty courthouse following his bond hearing in Valparaiso Wednesday Nov. 16, 2011. Bond was denied for McCowan who is charged with murder in the September death of Amanda Bach. | Andy Lavalley~Sun-Times Media
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Updated: December 18, 2011 5:20PM
VALPARAISO — There will be no bail for the man charged with murdering 19-year-old Amanda Bach in September.
After an hourlong hearing, Porter County Superior Court Judge William Alexa declined to set a bond for Dustin E. McCowan, now 19. Alexa cited Indiana law when giving his decision, noting that murder and treason charges are nonbondable offenses under the state constitution.
“The goal of pretrial incarceration is to ensure the defendant shows for trial,” Alexa read.
Defense attorney Robert Harper had argued the prosecution had collected no evidence that tied McCowan directly to the murder. There was no evidence where the body was found and no evidence found in the McCowan home when police searched it, Harper said. Police aren’t sure where Bach was shot, and test results have not come back from FBI laboratories, including DNA on a red spot found in the McCowan home.
“They jumped the gun,” Harper said.
Alexa said the prosecution showed that McCowan had opportunity to commit the crime and had enough circumstantial evidence to tie him to it. That includes cell phone records and a missing revolver from the McCowan home, as well as a possible eyewitness who saw McCowan walking on the road about 3 a.m. between where Bach’s car was found and the McCowan home.
McCowan shook his head slowly after the judge gave his decision, and family and friends in the court wept. He kept his head down when taken out of the courtroom, as he did when he entered, not making eye contact with anyone.
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