AK - Linda Martz Bower, 19, murdered, Eagle River, 10 Sept 2014 *Arrest*

A 28-year-old Anchorage man told his brother he had strangled his girlfriend, and when his brother said he intended to call police, the man drove off with the body in the back seat of his car, police said Thursday.

A short time later, David Joseph Thomas called police himself and was found with the car and the body of Linda Anne Martz Bower, 19, in the parking lot of a pharmacy.

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David Joseph Thomas, 28, has been charged with first- and second-degree murder after he allegedly told police he had strangled Linda Anne Martz Bower, his girlfriend...

During an interview with APD, Thomas told authorities he remembered being in his room and “being over” Bower while his hands were around her throat. He doesn’t remember what happened after, he said, and that when he woke up he was on the floor and his girlfriend was “stiff,” the affidavit says. The next thing he says he remembers after that is waking up in the front seat of his vehicle with Bower’s body in the backseat of his car...

Though Thomas doesn’t have any known convictions in Alaska, he violated a protective order in Montana in 2006, according to the affidavit.

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The man accused of strangling his girlfriend to death pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Wednesday as part of an agreement that could set him free in 14 years...

“Our daughter Linda was only 19 years old when she was senselessly taken from us 2 years, three months and four days ago,” Bower’s father, Lonny Bower, said, calling the plea deal “an insult to justice and a disgrace to our family and our daughter Linda”...

Thomas’ sentencing is scheduled for April 2017.

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Twenty-seven months ago, a choirgirl’s voice was silenced by a real-life “monster.” Now, the family of a 19-year-old murder victim wants the public to help them speak for her...

“We’re getting less than justice because they’re worried about the cost,” Lonny Bower said during an hourlong interview at the Star offices in Eagle River on Dec. 14, three days after Thomas entered an Anchorage courtroom and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder...

Linda’s family believes the sentence is far too lenient for a man they call “a con artist.” All four are confident he will hurt more people if given the opportunity...

The family is also frustrated with a system they say has failed to represent them. Although Alaska has a state-run Office of Victims’ Rights whose job is to represent crime victims in court, the Bowers and Millers say they weren’t made aware of the office until less than two weeks ago.

“We had to find that out ourselves after the plea agreement,” Sherry Bower said.

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Thursday afternoon, a judge rejected a sentence for David Thomas, who pleaded guilty to killing 19-year-old Linda Anne Martz Bower.

In a packed courtroom, Superior Court Judge Kevin Saxby said Thomas needed to be in prison until he had "aged-out," a term used to describe when a defendant is older. In this case, Saxby said it would most likely be when Thomas is in his 50s...

With the rejection of the plea deal, the judge said the guilty verdict goes away and everything starts again...

The next pre-trial conference is scheduled for July.

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