Zackery Bowen and Addie Hall sit in front of their New Orleans home in Sept. 2005. The couple was involved in an apparent murder-suicide this month. (photo courtesy: Mobile Register) |
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A Hurricane Katrina victim who gained national notoriety by flashing her breasts for police cars in the wake of the devastating storm was apparently murdered and dismembered this month by her live-in boyfriend, who then cooked her body parts before committing suicide.
Police in New Orleans say they found a suicide note in the pocket of Zackery Bowen, a bartender who had been living with Adrian "Addie" Hall in the post-catastrophe ruins of the French Quarter.
The note led authorities yesterday to the scene of his girlfriend's murder, "where they found her charred head in a pot on the stove, her legs and feet baked in the oven and the rest of her dismembered body in trash bag in the refrigerator," according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
In his five-page note, Bowen reportedly claimed he strangled Hall – who also tended bar – in the bathtub, then dismembered her and took her body parts into the kitchen.
"He appeared to clean up the bathroom a lot after he did it," one officer told the paper.
The woman's head was found burned beyond recognition in a pot on the stove, with her legs and feet in the same condition in pans inside the oven.
Autopsy results confirm the fact Hall was manually strangled, and her corpse was sliced apart after she died.
In the wake of Katrina last summer, both Hall and Bowen were featured in news articles across the country for their perseverance in continuing on with life despite the ubiquitous devastation surrounding them.
The New York Times reported Sept. 9, 2005: "Some holdouts seem intent on keeping alive the distinct and wild spirit of this city. In the French Quarter, Addie Hall and Zackery Bowen found a unusual way to make sure that police officers regularly patrolled their house. Ms. Hall, 28, a bartender, flashed her breasts at the police vehicles that passed by, ensuring a regular flow of traffic."
It was that "innovation" that caught the attention of not only bloggers but others in the national media as well.
Bob Rosner of ABC News stated: "I'm a fan of New Orleans. And let's face it, if you had gone through the hell of Hurricane Katrina, would you be able to draw on years of experience at Mardi Gras to get the police attention you needed? Hall, like so many residents of the Big Easy, has the most creative problem-solving skills I've ever seen.
"Hall also reminds us that there are the ways that things are supposed to get done and the ways that they actually get done. I'm not suggesting that flashing is a career-enhancing move for most of us. But there are times at work, and in life, where creativity and bold action are not only called for, they're a requirement."
As WND reported at the time, female survivors of the storm were urged by government rescuers to flash their breasts in order to receive help in Katrina's immediate aftermath.
When police and soldiers tried to evacuate everyone from their homes, Hall told the St. Petersburg Times, "They can't do this. I'm an American citizen. They're saying I have no rights."
A reporter for the Mobile Register in Alabama wrote:
They use the downed limbs they gather for cooking fires at night. They depend on outside assistance only for ice, water and news updates. The first has come mostly from Salvation Army and Southern Baptist Convention of Texas volunteers. The latter two have come from other relief workers, troops and news media.
Sometimes, they trade beer and alcohol for the water. "We're bartenders," Bowen said, "so we're well stocked." Added Hall, "But you can never have too much water."
According to today's Times-Picayune, the couple recently had a falling out over their living arrangements, as Bowen was being tossed out of the apartment the couple shared over a voodoo shop.
"I caught him cheating on me, and I am kicking him out of this apartment," Hall reportedly told the pair's landlord.
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