“Gary Ray Bowles (January 25, 1962 – August 22, 2019) was an American serial killer, nicknamed the “I-95 Killer” because the bodies of his victims were found near Interstate 95. Apprehended on October 22, 1995, Bowles was tried and sentenced to death in 1999 for the murders of six gay men; the sentence was carried out on August 22, 2019.

Gary Ray Bowles was born on January 25, 1962, in Virginia. After his father’s death and his mother’s remarriage, he experienced a difficult childhood marked by abuse, early substance abuse, and he left home at the age of 14. Bowles led a nomadic life, engaging in prostitution and criminal activities, which led to his imprisonment for theft at the age of 17. After his release, he settled in Daytona Beach, where his life took a violent turn. Following a failed relationship and an abortion, Bowles developed hatred towards homosexuals, which he attributed to his ex-partner.

Between March and October 1994, Bowles murdered six men, all of whom were gay, before being arrested in October 1995. Sentenced to death in 1996 and again in 1999 after a retrial, he was executed on August 22, 2019, by lethal injection in Florida. Bowles became the 99th person executed in the state since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1976.

In a final written statement, he apologized “for the pain and suffering” he had caused. “I never wanted my life to turn out like this. One doesn’t wake up one morning deciding to become a serial killer,” expressed Gary Ray Bowles with regret.”