Pod Insights Canadian True Crime Irene Carter About this episode An elderly woman is found dead in her own home, the victim of a brutally violent attack in a typically sleepy community. At first it appears to be a robbery gone wrong, but further investigation reveals a complex web of lies — and a much more disturbing truth.
The intention of this episode is to take a detailed look back at a tragic crime that played out through the media and highlight the societal problems that contributed to it.
To protect and respect the privacy of those close to the case, some names have been changed.
Recommended resources:
Elder abuse: visit canada.ca/seniors https://canada.ca/seniors or the Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse https://www.cnpea.ca/en/what-is-elder-abuse/responding-to-abuse. Gambling: visit ResponsibleGambling.org https://responsiblegambling.org/ https://www.responsiblegambling.org/for-the-public/about-gambling/gambling-faqs/The CBC’s The Detectives: watch Season 3 Episode 2: Out of Lies https://www.cbc.ca/television/thedetectives/season-3-episode-2-out-of-lies-1.5404697%20https://gem.cbc.ca/the-detectives/s03 on CBC Gem for those in Canada or here https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7qpfl3.
Canadian true crime donates monthly to those facing injustice.
This month: Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse. https://www.cnpea.ca/en/what-is-elder-abuse/responding-to-abuse
Look out for early, ad-free release on CTC premium feeds: available onAmazon Music https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/fbe63977-5737-4910-a067-1745b99fae36/canadian-true-crime (included with Prime),Apple Podcasts https://apple.co/3LZBCxa,Patreon https://www.patreon.com/canadiantruecrime andSupercast https://canadiantruecrime.supercast.com/.
Full list of resources, information sources, credits and music credits:
See the page for this episode at www.canadiantruecrime.ca/episodes https://www.canadiantruecrime.ca/episodes
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy https://acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript 0:00 Speaker 00 Hi, I'm Angie Hicks, co-founder of Angie, and one thing I've learned is that you buy a house, but you make it a home. Because with every fix, update, and renovation, it becomes a little more your own. So you need all your jobs done well. For nearly 30 years, Angie has helped millions of homeowners hire skilled pros for the projects that matter. From plumbing, to electrical, roof repair, to deck upgrades. So leave it to the pros who will get your jobs done well. Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find a pro for your project at Angie.com.
0:30 Speaker 01 Soft, cushy, plush, cozy. Soft, smooth, buttery, marshmallow-y, warm. Soft. Socks, underwear, tees, and more. Bombas. Everyday comfort worth obsessing over. Visit Bombas.com/audio and use code AUDIO for 20% off your first purchase. That's B-O-M-B-A-S dot com slash AUDIO. One purchase equals one donated, always.
1:02 Speaker 02 Canadian True Crime is a completely independent production funded mainly through advertising. You can listen to Canadian True Crime ad-free and early on Amazon Music, included with Prime, Apple Podcasts, Patreon, and Supercast. The podcast often has disturbing content and coarse language. It's not for everyone. Please take care when listening.
1:22 Speaker 03 This episode has been pieced together from the news archives, most notably the reporting of Lethbridge News Now, the Lethbridge Herald, the Calgary Herald, and CBC News. To respect and protect the privacy of those close to the case, some names have been changed.
1:45 Speaker 03 It's January 17th, 2016, a freezing cold winter day in the city of Lethbridge in Alberta. Lisa and Scott Bowman are making the two-hour drive there from Calgary to check up on Lisa's elderly mother Irene, who lives by herself. When Lisa can't get to Lethbridge to visit her mother in person, she phones often to check in. Irene has always been fairly social, so it's not overly unusual for her to be out when her daughter calls. But the last time Lisa spoke with Irene was on Wednesday, and it was now Sunday.
2:29 Speaker 03 Lisa and Scott's son Oliver lives in Lethbridge and Lisa has already called him to ask if he would check on his grandmother. Unfortunately, he said he's not able to because he's on a camping trip. So Lisa and Scott are making the two-hour drive themselves.
2:53 Speaker 03 They arrive in Lethbridge just after 2pm and pull up in Irene Carter's driveway. Lisa follows Scott as he walks around to the back of the split-level house. That's the door they always use. Scott enters the home first, walking through the basement and up the stairs to the front entrance. Then, he stops. He sees Irene on the floor by the front door, close to the bottom of the stairs to the upper level. The 78-year-old is not moving. There's blood everywhere.
3:32 Speaker 03 Scott calls 911 and gives them the address, along with details of how he found his mother-in-law. He says it looks like Irene had a terrible fall down the stairs and hit her head.
3:51 Speaker 03 Lethbridge Police arrive at Irene Carter's home to attend to the 911 call. As Sergeant Ryan Steph opens the door, he is hit by the familiar and unmistakable stench of death. He would say in a later interview that the distinctive smell only sets in after a person has been dead for a while, and it's a smell you'll never forget. As Sergeant Steph comes across Irene Carter's body in the front entryway, it's immediately clear that what happened to her was more than just a fall down the stairs. The elderly woman's torso is soaked in blood,
4:34 Speaker 03 and there's a large amount of blood on the floor around her. It's no surprise that the blood has dried. Irene Carter has been dead for at least a day, possibly several.
4:49 Speaker 03 As her body is taken for autopsy, investigators look around the house to try and figure out what happened. Both the living room and the elderly woman's bedroom are in a state of disarray, and the drawers are open with stuff strewn around the room. It looks like perhaps someone broke into the house to look for something specific. Did they know that Irene Carter was there? The strange thing is, there are no signs of forced entry whatsoever. Investigators also see that the landline phone is not plugged into the wall. In fact, the cord is completely missing.
5:32 Speaker 03 Irene Carter clearly suffered traumatic injuries, that much is clear. But there's nothing that looks like it could have been used as the weapon. Although, in the kitchen, a single knife is missing from the knife block. The whole thing looks highly suspicious.
5:52 Speaker 03 The next day, the autopsy confirms that not only was Irene Carter's death a homicide, but it was an especially violent one. The 78-year-old had been stabbed 12 times in the chest, and twice in her right shoulder. She also sustained skull fractures and multiple blunt force injuries, and bled to death on the floor just inside her own house. But what motive would anyone have to murder an elderly woman like that?
6:28 Speaker 03 When Lethbridge Police advised Lisa and Scott Bowman that Lisa's mother Irene had been stabbed to death, they were shocked and devastated. Investigators interviewed the couple to get as much information as they could about Irene and what she may have been doing in the days before her death. They learned that Irene's husband, Lisa's father, had recently moved into a care facility, so she lived in the house alone. Lisa was their only child, and she checked in with her mother as often as she could. She told investigators about the last time she'd spoken to Irene,
7:09 Speaker 03 which was by phone just after midday on Wednesday, January 13, four days before she and Scott discovered the body. Lisa said it was just a general catch-up, nothing notable, but remembered her mother mentioning a door-to-door furnace salesman that had been trying high-pressure sales tactics on her.
7:33 Speaker 03 Investigators made a note of this potential lead. The fact that there had been no sign of forced entry to the house meant it was likely that Irene either knew the person who murdered her or invited them into her home. A furnace salesman fit with that.
7:52 Speaker 03 They asked Lisa and Scott about Irene's relationships and if they knew of anyone in her life that might want to hurt her or may have had a motive to kill her. But they knew of no one. Irene had a few close friends, but no known enemies. Because Lisa and Scott had found her body, the police needed to clear them of any involvement in the murder so they could focus on finding the perpetrator. Lisa was asked what she did for the rest of that Wednesday after the last call with her mother. She said she wasn't currently working a job and she met a friend at the mall until 5pm, then went to the gym to work out.
8:38 Speaker 03 The police contacted Lisa's friend, who confirmed they did spend the afternoon together, and Lisa's son Oliver confirmed that she had gone to the gym after that. It all checked out. As for Scott, he was at work the entire day, easily verified. But investigators were curious about one thing in relation to Scott. Why did he tell the 911 operator that his mother-in-law had fallen and hit her head? Irene's chest was covered in blood, but her head trauma wasn't visible until her body was autopsied. Scott said he didn't want to look too closely at his mother-in-law's body,
9:23 Speaker 03 but he assumed she must have fallen because she was lying near the front door at the bottom of the stairs.
9:32 Speaker 03 The Lethbridge Police Service released a statement naming 78-year-old Irene Carter as the first homicide victim of 2016 in the city. They provided no details about when exactly she was believed to have been murdered, only that her body had been found on Sunday, January 17. The police asked anyone who saw anything suspicious in the neighbourhood in the days leading up to that, or anyone with information to share, to come forward. Someone had to have seen something. There was a heavy police presence in the neighbourhood as officers began canvassing with police dogs,
10:16 Speaker 03 as investigators interviewed Irene's family members and friends to try and piece together a comprehensive timeline of her whereabouts and activities. A reporter for the Lethbridge Herald spoke with Irene's neighbours, who said they were very shocked to hear what had happened. They recall chatting with Irene and her husband Jack outside the house before he moved to the care facility, describing them as "nice, fairly private people who maintained a lovely garden". Although the neighbourhood was described as quiet, one neighbour pointed out that it was the third time they had seen such police presence in the past year,
11:00 Speaker 03 and one of those incidents involved the house right next door being broken into. Neighbours commented that there were a lot of senior women like Irene Carter living by themselves in the area, and believed someone was watching. Somebody knew that Irene was there by herself. In fact, the city of Lethbridge had recently experienced a sharp uptick in violent crime. The year beforehand, 2015, there were three times the number of murders compared to previous years. So, given the brutal nature of the attack against Irene Carter, and the fact that the person responsible for it was still at large,
11:45 Speaker 03 the local community was on edge. The police told them they'd found no specific evidence of an ongoing risk or threat to the general public, but it wasn't very reassuring.
12:04 Speaker 03 Irene Carter's funeral was held almost two weeks later, on January 29. According to her obituary, she was survived by Jack Carter, her husband of 55 years. She loved to garden and was involved with many community organisations. Quote, Irene loved her family, especially her grandchildren. They truly held a special place in her heart. Irene cheered her grandchildren on while watching baseball, soccer, football and hockey, as she was so proud of their accomplishments. She will be missed dearly.
12:45 Speaker 03 By that point, Lethbridge Police were so inundated with inquiries from concerned community members about the status of the case and the investigation, that they had to release another statement in response. They assured the community that the investigation was ongoing and progressing, but they weren't able to elaborate further at the time to protect the integrity of the investigation. Behind the scenes, police had started investigating furnace companies in and around Lethbridge, based on what Lisa Bowman had mentioned about the furnace salesperson who visited her mother. They hit a brick wall.
13:26 Speaker 03 There were no furnace companies active in sales in the area at the time. But police soon heard from Irene's neighbours that a gas salesperson had been door-knocking in the neighbourhood about a week before the murder. So investigators were now looking for gas companies with the same criteria. This time, they were on the right path. According to interviews with Sergeant Ryan Steph shown on an episode of the CBC true crime show The Detectives, the police identified and tracked down a gas company employee who had been canvassing door to door in Lethbridge at the time.
14:08 Speaker 03 The fact that he was reportedly already known to police for offences that included drugs and violence indicated that he had some propensity for behaving outside the law. But stabbing an elderly woman to death was something quite different. The man was brought in for questioning and he confirmed he had been selling door to door in the area at the time, but insisted he didn't recognise Irene Carter or her home. The police asked him if he would be willing to take a polygraph test to prove it, and he agreed. Polygraphs or lie detector tests aren't admissible as evidence in court in Canada because they
14:52 Speaker 03 don't prove a person as lying or being deceptive. Scientifically speaking, polygraphs only indicate a change in stress levels as perceived by the person administering the test, but they're still used by police as an investigation tool to try and spook suspects who haven't called their lawyer yet, because any good defence lawyer would almost certainly advise against taking a polygraph. This gas salesman did not call a lawyer and readily agreed to take the polygraph. The test administrator determined there was no evidence of deception. The police had nothing that connected the man to the murder of Irene Carter.
15:37 Speaker 03 He was cleared and released and the investigation continued.
15:55 Speaker 00 Hi, I'm Angie Hicks, co-founder of Angie, and one thing I've learned is that you buy a house, but you make it a home. Because with every fix, update, and renovation, it becomes a little more your own. So you need all your jobs done well. For nearly 30 years, Angie has helped millions of homeowners hire skilled pros for the projects that matter. From plumbing to electrical, roof repair to deck upgrades. So leave it to the pros who will get your jobs done well. Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find a pro for your project at angie.com.
16:25 Speaker 01 Soft, cushy, plush, cozy. Soft, smooth, buttery, marshmallow-y, warm. Soft. Socks, underwear, tees, and more. Bombas, everyday comfort worth obsessing over. Visit bombas.com/audio and use code AUDIO for 20% off your first purchase. That's B-O-M-B-A-S dot com slash AUDIO. One purchase equals one donated, always.
17:05 Speaker 03 The last time anyone had seen or heard from Irene Carter was four days before her body was discovered. That was Wednesday, January 13th, when she spoke on the phone with her daughter Lisa at about midday. In piecing together the timeline, investigators learned that Irene had plans that morning to have a late breakfast with a friend at the local casino. She reportedly wasn't a gambler herself, but enjoyed having breakfast at the restaurant. The casino's security footage showed Irene and her friend having breakfast before leaving the casino together.
17:47 Speaker 03 The police tracked down that friend, who confirmed she drove Irene home and dropped her off just after 11:30 a.m., but didn't go inside the house. This friend's story checked out, and she too was eliminated as a person of interest.
18:05 Speaker 03 The police looked into Irene Carter's phone and bank activities around the time she was murdered. According to her phone records, an insurance company representative had left a message on Irene's answering machine, advising her of a change to her account's status. This message was left the morning of Wednesday, January 13, when Irene was at the casino having breakfast, and the machine indicated she had listened to it shortly before midday when she arrived home. The insurance rep told her she was no longer eligible to receive a mortgage-free discount on her home insurance,
18:47 Speaker 03 and had incurred a fee of $65. Now this struck investigators as being odd. They were under the impression that Jack and Irene Carter were in a good financial position in retirement, and had long since paid off their mortgage. So why would they have lost their mortgage-free discount? Perhaps the call had been made in error.
19:15 Speaker 03 About 30 minutes after Irene checked that message, her daughter Lisa called to check up on her. This was the last phone call they would ever have. According to the phone records, there was no other phone activity at Irene Carter's until that evening, when her friend called to check in and left a message on the answering machine. But Irene never listened to that message, or any others after that. And four days later, her body was found in the house. From this information, investigators moved forward with the working assumption that Irene was likely murdered the afternoon of Wednesday, January 13,
19:59 Speaker 03 after she arrived home from breakfast at the casino, and before that friend called in the evening.
20:08 Speaker 03 Her bank records were even more illuminating. They showed that in the three days before that date, someone had withdrawn almost $1,000 a day from her bank account using an ATM. Investigators asked the bank for security camera footage of the ATM, and they received footage showing a woman they didn't recognise withdrawing the money. They showed the photo to Lisa Bowman, and she said she'd never seen the woman before either. Lisa was also asked if she knew of anyone else who might have access to Irene's bank card, because someone had been making large withdrawals in the days before her murder.
20:54 Speaker 03 Lisa immediately told them she was the one who made those withdrawals, explaining that she had power of attorney for both of her elderly parents. She managed their finances and personal and healthcare, paid their bills and gave Irene money when she needed it. The woman on the security cameras was definitely not Lisa, so the police went back to the bank to double-check. It was at this point that the bank realised they'd handed over the wrong security footage. The correct footage clearly showed Lisa Bowman withdrawing money from the ATM, another frustrating dead end.
21:38 Speaker 03 From where residents of Lethbridge stood, it seemed that the investigation into the murder of Irene Carter was not progressing, and whoever was responsible was still at large. Terrified residents started adjusting their routines and being more vigilant about safety.
21:59 Speaker 03 Three months after Irene's murder, the Lethbridge Police Service held a press conference in Calgary. Sergeant Ryan Steph confirmed they had hit a roadblock. They had no more leads about why or how Irene Carter had been murdered, and hadn't yet ruled out any particular motive for it, including a botched robbery or something similar. The police believed there were more people with information to share, and urged them to come forward, including anyone who may have been canvassing door to door in Irene's neighbourhood in Lethbridge at the time of her murder. They hoped that by holding this press conference in Calgary,
22:44 Speaker 03 they would reach more people, get more tips, and increase the chances of solving the case. Sergeant Steph then called Irene's daughter Lisa Bowman and her husband Scott to the podium to make a statement of their own. Visibly distressed, Lisa's voice broke as she issued a personal plea for anyone with information about her mother's murder to please come forward, as Scott stood next to her in support. In reference to the fact that the investigation had hit a roadblock, Lisa said, quote, "No family deserves to have to go through this. Over the past few months,
23:26 Speaker 03 our family and friends have been emotionally dealing with sadness, disbelief, frustration and anger of the sudden and senseless death of my mum." She added that she missed her mum every day, and not knowing what had happened to her or who was involved was extremely painful.
23:48 Speaker 03 It appeared that the police press conference paid off because the Lethbridge Police Service held another one in Calgary two weeks later, this time with much more specific information. Here's Sergeant Ryan Steph.
24:05 Speaker 04 We are seeking the public's assistance in attempting to identify and locate a lady that goes by the name of Terry Lynn, or Terry with the last initial L. She is believed to have attended Gambling Anonymous groups in Calgary and may possibly have this pink coat in her possession.
24:25 Speaker 03 Next to the podium was a display as a visual cue, a bright pink puffer jacket.
24:32 Speaker 04 Terry Lynn is also believed to live in Erdry, and she is described as around five foot four or five foot five inches tall, around 250 pounds, heavyset. She should have dirty blonde hair with some brown streaks. She's also in her late twenties or her early thirties, with a tattoo on one of her wrists. If you have any information about Lisa, sorry, about Terry Lynn, can you please contact me?
25:00 Speaker 03 Erdry is a small city about 30 minutes' drive north of Calgary, in the opposite direction to Lethbridge. In response to press questions, Sergeant Steph clarified that this woman, Terry Lynn, was not a suspect. Her name had just come up as someone who may have information to share, and police efforts to locate her had not been successful so far.
25:30 Speaker 03 Just days later, Staff Sergeant Woods of the Lethbridge Police Service announced that after an extensive, complex investigation, the police had made an arrest. To the surprise of many, the person arrested was not Terry Lynn.
25:47 Speaker 04 Following a lengthy investigation, Lethbridge Police Service has charged the daughter of 78-year-old Irene Carter with one count of secondary murder in connection with her mother's death. Over the past three months, members of the violent crimes unit have spent hundreds of hours investigating this murder. And earlier today, those efforts culminated in the arrest of 51-year-old Lisa.
26:10 Speaker 03 Lisa Bowman, the same daughter who gave that emotional public plea about her mother's murder just two weeks earlier, had now been charged with that murder and remanded in custody.
26:23 Speaker 04 There are no additional charges pending or anticipated against any other persons or subjects in connection with this homicide. As this matter is now before the courts, we're not in a position to comment any further respect to the evidence in order to protect the integrity of our
26:38 Speaker 03 Staff Sergeant Woods credited the Calgary Police Service with their help in investigating the case, and ended the announcement with a comment about what solving it meant.
26:49 Speaker 04 Irene's voice has now been heard as it goes before the courts, because she didn't have a voice up until today.
27:00 Speaker 03 Given Lisa Bowman's emotional appearance on television, many residents of Lethbridge were shocked by the news of her arrest. But others weren't. According to one neighbour, there had been rumours going around that Irene's daughter was responsible for the murder, according to reporting by Alison Miller for Global News. This neighbour knew Irene well, and said she always felt that the rumours were probably true. She recalled an anecdote from Irene Carter's funeral. The eulogy given by Irene's niece went into great detail about Irene and her husband Jack, and their grandchildren, Lisa and Scott's children.
27:45 Speaker 03 But there was almost no mention of Lisa herself. Given she was their only child, the neighbour thought it was very odd.
27:57 Speaker 03 Lisa Bowman was released on bail about six weeks later. Her husband Scott had pledged $100,000 as surety, promising to supervise his wife while out on bail in the community, and make sure she complied with the conditions of her release.
28:16 Speaker 03 A year later, Lisa Bowman pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, and a four-week jury trial was scheduled for September of the following year, 2018. If found guilty, she would receive a mandatory sentence of life in prison, with no chance of parole for at least ten years. At this time, it was also reported that Lisa Bowman's bail had been revoked, and she would be going back to jail. Her husband Scott, the one who first discovered his mother-in-law's body and stood next to Lisa as she gave that emotional public plea, had changed his mind.
28:59 Speaker 03 He requested he be removed as her surety, and revoked the $100,000 he had pledged. He also commenced divorce proceedings. Lisa voluntarily went back to jail pending trial, where she remained for the next year. But just a few months before the trial was scheduled to begin, it was suddenly cancelled. In June of 2018, a hearing was held where Lisa Bowman, by this point 53 years old, pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of her mother Irene. An agreed statement of facts was tabled that outlined the basic facts of her guilty plea.
29:44 Speaker 03 This statement revealed publicly for the first time that not only was Lisa Bowman the only child of Jack and Irene Carter, but she had been adopted by them as a baby.
29:59 Speaker 03 Irene met Jack Carter in the late 1950s at an automotive business where he worked. And before long, they were married and had adopted baby Lisa. No details about the circumstances of Lisa's adoption or specific details about her childhood were provided in the agreed statement of facts, except for one thing. Lisa and her mother were said to have had a very difficult relationship growing up. They clashed a lot, and Irene often told Lisa that she regretted adopting her.
30:36 Speaker 03 As an adult, Lisa married Scott Bowman, moved to Calgary and started a family of their own. While Irene was said to have doted on her grandchildren, her relationship with their mother continued to be strained. Lisa's defence lawyer described it as a passive-aggressive, mother-daughter relationship, where some days Lisa found her mother to be generous with love, gifts, money and other things, but on other days she was called derogatory names and felt like Irene treated her like anything but a daughter.
31:16 Speaker 03 As Jack Carter retired from full-time employment, he and Irene remained active. They continued their tradition of spending the winters in Arizona, and Irene also enjoyed going on trips with her cousin Mary.
31:33 Speaker 03 But in 2009, their lives were disrupted somewhat. Irene suddenly had a psychotic episode, and she was diagnosed with late-onset schizophrenia, a serious mental health condition that affects how people feel, think and behave. Symptoms include a combination of hallucinations, delusions and disorganised thinking and behaviour that typically presents in young adulthood. Irene was in her early 70s by this point, and diagnosed with a rare subset of late-onset schizophrenia. The symptoms are slightly different, often involving more severe paranoid delusions
32:17 Speaker 03 and sensory hallucinations. And while there is no cure for schizophrenia, it can be successfully treated with medication and monitoring. After Irene Carter's diagnosis and treatment in 2009, it appears she returned to her normal life and routine, with no ongoing issues to speak of. But six years after that, she had a second psychotic episode. This isn't uncommon in patients with schizophrenia, and indicates a need for medication and treatment to be adjusted. This second episode happened in April of 2015, nine months before Irene was murdered.
33:01 Speaker 03 It appears she was again successfully treated and was able to resume her normal life with some modifications. Irene was now 77 years old, and her husband Jack was 80 and living with worsening dementia. So Irene was allowed to return home under a community treatment order, which meant healthcare workers were assigned to visit and check in on her regularly and take her to medical appointments. It wasn't long before Jack Carter was moved into a care facility, which meant his wife Irene was now living alone. It made sense to appoint their daughter Lisa Bowman as power of attorney,
33:46 Speaker 03 so she could make decisions about personal care and finances on their behalf if they weren't able to.
33:56 Speaker 03 Although Lisa lived two hours' drive away in Calgary, she checked in with her mother regularly by phone or in person, and often arranged other family members to check up on her as well. But her relationship with Irene continued to be strained, verging on downright toxic. They argued regularly.
34:18 Speaker 03 According to the agreed statement of facts, Irene's healthcare workers had been growing more concerned with each visit to her home. They saw Lisa Bowman start changing things up as soon as she was granted power of attorney. She confiscated Irene's driver's licence, sold both of her cars, took away her bank cards, and redirected her mail to her own home in Calgary. In effect, Irene wasn't able to go anywhere unless she arranged someone to drive her. She wasn't able to buy anything unless Lisa gave her money, and she had no idea what
34:58 Speaker 03 was going on with any aspect of her life because Lisa was receiving her mail. And Irene's healthcare workers had a front row seat to observe Lisa's behaviour and how her decisions negatively impacted their elderly client. As reporter Megan Grant wrote for CBC News, Irene Carter was miserable over the loss of her independence. The healthcare workers started taking note of everything that happened. They tried to speak with Lisa about the situation but quickly realised it wasn't going to do any good. She responded by getting angry and defensive.
35:42 Speaker 03 According to the agreed statement of facts, they took the initiative to fill out a form to file an elder abuse complaint and presented it to Irene to get more details. But she waved them away, saying it would cause a rift with her daughter, or at least an even bigger one. For the same reasons, she also said no to the suggestion that she attempt to discuss the issues directly with Lisa herself.
36:13 Speaker 03 Older adults of all walks of life are vulnerable to elder abuse. A serious and often under-reported issue affecting many seniors across the country. Elder abuse can take various forms, including physical, emotional and sexual abuse as well as neglect. But financial abuse is particularly prevalent, involving illegal or unauthorized use of a senior's money or property that can often leave them in severe financial distress. Elder abuse can occur in a number of different settings like private homes, long-term care facilities and hospitals, and the consequences are profound.
36:57 Speaker 03 It severely impacts the physical and mental health of seniors and leads to an increased risk of physical and mental illness and even premature death. One in five Canadians believe they know a senior who might be experiencing some form of abuse, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. The first red flag of elder abuse is when an older person says they are being abused. They should always be believed. Other red flags include unexplained injuries like bruises or broken bones, behavioural changes like withdrawal from normal activities and social isolation, and signs of neglect
37:40 Speaker 03 like lack of food, restricting access to aids the older person relies on for independence, and leaving them alone for long periods of time. Changes to the older person's living situation, like a previous uninvolved relative suddenly moving in or claiming rights to the property, is another warning sign, as are sudden changes to their financial situation, like unpaid bills, unauthorized withdrawals or unexplained credit card charges.
38:14 Speaker 03 No one knew it at the time, but in the months before Irene Carter's murder, Lisa Bowman had remortgaged the home she lived in without telling her. The police investigation revealed that Lisa took out a mortgage of just over $100,000 and had also made a number of large withdrawals from Irene's bank accounts after that. In total, it amounted to around $200,000. They also discovered that in December of 2015, just a few weeks before the murder, Lisa had tried to withdraw a large amount of money from her parents' retirement investments
38:58 Speaker 03 and inquired with their insurance agent if Irene had an active life insurance policy. The police also learned that Irene's healthcare workers had been growing increasingly frustrated, both by what they witnessed and that there didn't seem to be much they could do about it. Irene was independent, mobile, and in decent enough mental health. Having her daughter as power of attorney was supposed to help their elderly client, but Lisa's decisions were clearly making her miserable and her life harder. The healthcare workers started the process of arranging for Irene to have a new assessment
39:40 Speaker 03 of her mental capacity, not knowing that she would be dead within weeks.
39:48 Speaker 03 The way Lisa Bowman had set things up, by diverting all her mother's mail to her own home in Calgary, there was no way for the elderly woman to know what her daughter had been up to financially. But when Lisa remortgaged her parents' home, it triggered the loss of their mortgage-free discount on insurance, which apparently necessitated a phone call from the insurance company.
40:17 Speaker 03 The morning of Wednesday, January 13 of 2016, a representative phoned Irene's home and left a message on her answering machine. Irene listened to the message when she returned from her casino breakfast, learning for the first time that she was no longer eligible for the discount and had to pay a $65 fee. Irene Carter was extremely upset about this. She would be dead within hours.
40:52 Speaker 03 In the three months between Irene Carter's murder and Lisa Bowman's arrest, it seemed that the police were fumbling around a lot, going from dead-end lead to dead-end lead, at least from where the public stood. But as is what often happens, the exact opposite was true. When an accused person pleads guilty, they aren't required to give the full story or even a motive, only the facts that directly pertain to what they're pleading guilty to. This means that a lot of information that would typically come out as trial testimony isn't made public, like behind-the-scenes details about the police investigation.
41:36 Speaker 03 At the time of Lisa's guilty plea, it was unclear how exactly the police first identified Lisa Bowman as a person of interest, and when they upgraded her to a suspect. And what did Terry Lynn, the pink coat-wearing woman from Airdrie, have to do with it? A lot of these questions were answered by Sergeant Ryan Steff of Lethbridge Police Service in interviews featured on the CBC true crime show, The Detectives.
42:08 Speaker 03 When investigators pulled Irene Carter's financial records from the previous year early in the investigation, they saw exactly how Lisa Bowman had been using her power of attorney, the thousands of dollars she had withdrawn from her parents' accounts, including those ATM withdrawals she'd made days before her mother's murder, and her attempts to get even more money. But Lisa didn't appear to be living at large, and wasn't behaving like a person who had just come into money might behave. The police couldn't figure out where all that money had gone.
42:49 Speaker 03 They placed a covert tracking device on her car, and tracked her right to the local casino. Staff confirmed she'd been a patron for a long time, and loved the slot machines. They would see her putting down thousands of dollars in one day. But as the saying goes, "The house always wins." While most people are able to gamble responsibly, for others, it comes with serious risks. The fact is that most gamblers will lose their money. And because gambling can trigger the brain's reward system, it makes it potentially addictive.
43:32 Speaker 03 When people can't stop gambling, it causes a cascade of other problems, and often impacts around six other people, according to the Responsible Gambling Council of Canada. No wonder Lisa Bowman had nothing to show for that $200,000 she took from her parents. She had poured it straight into the slot machines. But while all these discoveries and puzzle pieces raised suspicion about Lisa, it didn't prove that she murdered her mother. The police needed to keep pressing for more information.
44:16 Speaker 03 Lisa Bowman had told investigators that the last time she spoke with her mother Irene was when she phoned to check in on Wednesday, January 13th, just after midday. That pushy furnace salesperson she told police about was likely a red herring to send them on a wild goose chase. At this point, investigators decided to double-check Lisa's alibi for the rest of that day. First, with the friend who had confirmed she was with Lisa all afternoon until 5pm. That friend admitted she had lied to police at Lisa's request.
44:56 Speaker 03 She was doing a favour for a friend, but actually had no idea where Lisa had been that afternoon.
45:06 Speaker 03 Lisa's son Oliver had corroborated the final part of her alibi about going to the gym after 5pm that day. But when the police contacted him to double-check, he also admitted he'd lied because his mother phoned him and asked him to. He said she seemed scared and he believed that she had nothing to do with his grandmother's murder, but he really had no idea what she'd been doing that afternoon or evening. Lisa Bowman was clearly hiding something. The police applied for a search warrant and attended her home to discuss it with her in the context of the lies they had discovered.
45:50 Speaker 03 She admitted straight away that her alibi was false. The real story, Lisa said, was that she had argued on the phone with her mother, as they often did, and the phone call ended. So she got in her car and drove over two hours to Lethbridge to apologise and try to resolve their conflict in person. But when she arrived, she saw a car parked on the driveway. Assuming it belonged to one of Irene's healthcare visitors, she decided to sit in her car and wait for them to leave.
46:28 Speaker 03 Lisa said she soon got tired of waiting and they were showing no sign of leaving, so she decided to just drive back to Calgary. She told the police that the reason she lied to them and arranged those false alibis was because she thought it would look bad for her to admit she was at the house that day. But her story made absolutely no sense to the police. Why would she drive for two hours to say sorry to her mother, only to turn around and drive home? And for someone who insisted she was waiting for the car parked in the driveway to leave,
47:08 Speaker 03 it was strange that Lisa wasn't able to recall any details about that car whatsoever. The police had obtained that search warrant, ordering the seizure of Lisa's cellphone, her iPad, and the clothes she had been wearing that day. They also obtained DNA and fingerprint samples from her.
47:31 Speaker 03 Lisa Bowman had no idea that four fingerprints had been found at the crime scene in Irene Carter's blood, on the floor, in the blood spatter on the wall, and on the front door frame. The fingerprints did not match anyone in the database. Police had saved them for later, when they had a perpetrator to test them against. And now they did.
47:59 Speaker 03 The forensic analysis matched the fingerprints in Irene Carter's blood to Lisa Bowman, but that was just one piece of the puzzle. Given the amount of blood at the scene, it was likely expected that traces of Irene Carter's blood would be found on the clothes Lisa had been wearing on Wednesday, January 13th. But there was not a single trace on her clothes to be found. On her devices, the browser search history of her iPad revealed that around the time of Irene's murder, Lisa had been searching topics related to cellphone forensics and how to wipe a cellphone.
48:42 Speaker 03 Evidently, she hadn't done that to her iPad, but the police weren't able to get anything from her cellphone. It had been completely wiped and reset. Investigators were on the right track, but there was more evidence out there to find. At around this time, the police received a new tip out of the blue from a woman in Calgary who wanted to talk about Lisa Bowman. The woman said she had known Lisa for a long time and worked in a Calgary clothing store that Lisa frequented. Something had happened that caused her to be concerned that Lisa was involved in something sinister.
49:27 Speaker 03 The woman told a strange story about two visits Lisa made to the store in the month before Irene Carter's murder. The first visit was around Christmas of 2015, and Lisa purchased a pink winter coat. A few weeks later, she came back and wanted to purchase the exact same coat again. Problem was, they didn't have another coat in her size, which was double XL. So she purchased the coat in the larger, triple XL size. The store clerk told investigators she had no idea why Lisa would do this.
50:08 Speaker 03 But weeks later, she received a phone call from Lisa, saying her mother had been murdered in Lethbridge and the police were sniffing around her family. Lisa asked her for a favor, to wipe all the store's security footage from around the time her mother was murdered. The woman was just a store clerk, so she didn't actually have the authority to do that. Instead, she called the police.
50:37 Speaker 03 Investigators took another look at the pink jacket that Lisa told them she'd been wearing. The jacket that had been sent for DNA testing. It was a size triple XL. No wonder it tested negative for Irene's blood or DNA. It wasn't the jacket that Lisa had actually been wearing. This was the second one she purchased in the biggest size. Investigators realized she probably purchased it to use as a decoy. Lisa Bowman had lied yet again. Investigators knew they had their perpetrator and they knew they were so close to solving the case.
51:21 Speaker 03 With just a few more puzzle pieces, they would be able to make an arrest. Lisa's cellphone may have been wiped, but her phone provider came back with some interesting information. The day after Irene had been murdered, Lisa's phone had pinged from a rural area near the city of Airdrie, located about 30 minutes' drive north of Calgary. Because the murder weapon, the knife, was still missing, police believed it was possible that this was where Lisa had dumped it. They conducted a large-scale search of the area but found nothing of interest.
52:04 Speaker 03 Sergeant Ryan Steph would later say in his interview for CBC's The Detectives that, quote, "I decided I needed to turn up the heat on Lisa. Somehow, I had to find a way to get Lisa to show us a little bit of her hand."
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53:45 Speaker 03 In many countries, including Canada, police are able to lie to suspects as an investigation tactic, like we see in Mr. Big undercover stings. They might tell a person of interest they have evidence they don't actually have, or that an accomplice has confessed when they haven't. The tactic is used to prompt a reaction from the person of interest, which can lead to more information to help solve the case. Investigators had learned that Lisa Bowman had been in injury because her phone provider said her cellphone pinged from there. But if they confronted her with that, she might feel threatened and shut down,
54:28 Speaker 03 and they might never get those last puzzle pieces.
54:33 Speaker 03 Because the investigation involved asking the public for tips, police decided to use a false tip as a much more passive, non-confrontational way to ask Lisa about it. They told her they'd just received a tip from someone in Airdrie, who said they saw her driving around the area the day after Irene Carter was murdered. Lisa confirmed that she had driven out there and explained it was to help a friend of hers in need. When asked for more details about this, Lisa said the friend's name was Terry Lynn, but she didn't know her last name and didn't have any of her contact details.
55:17 Speaker 03 She said Terry Lynn had phoned her from a convenience store payphone. With further probing from the police, Lisa said she had met Terry Lynn at a Gamblers Anonymous meeting. She added that she previously struggled with gambling, and while she had been in recovery for years, she still attended meetings sometimes to make sure she stayed on the right path. Lisa Bowman always had an answer for everything, but she had no idea the police knew she was still making trips to the casino. Investigators asked her about another tip they'd received, something about her purchasing the same pink jacket twice within a matter of weeks.
56:03 Speaker 03 Lisa nodded and explained that she gave her original pink jacket to Terry Lynn, along with some other clothes. That's why she was in Airdrie, and that's why she had to buy a new pink jacket. When the police asked if this means that the pink jacket she gave them was not the one she was wearing on the day of Irene's murder, she was sheepish and said that she never actually thought about that when she gave it to them. During the months of investigation, Sergeant Ryan Steph had maintained a good relationship with Lisa Bowman. In his interview for CBC's The Detectives,
56:44 Speaker 03 Sergeant Steph said it was clear to him that Lisa knew she was looking more and more like the guilty party. But as they were so close to solving the case, he wanted her to keep thinking he believed everything she said and was on her side. Because Sergeant Steph had an idea. He suggested to Lisa that she and Scott appear in front of the media and make a public plea for information in the case. Lisa readily agreed, seemingly unaware that she was their prime suspect. The Lethbridge Police Service released video of that press conference,
57:27 Speaker 03 and after Lisa Bowman's arrest was announced, many looked back at that footage in a new light. She appears to be making the face and sounds of someone who might be crying, and halfway through the press conference she paused and made a show of pulling a tissue out of the box. She glanced at the assembled media as she flicked her hair to the side and then dabbed under her eyes before continuing. The following audio from the press conference has been edited slightly for clarity and brevity.
58:04 Speaker 07 Over the past few months, our family and dear friends have been emotionally dealing with sadness, disbelief, frustration and anger over the sudden death and senseless death of my mum. No family deserves to have to go through this.
58:25 Speaker 07 My mum loved her family and friends, especially her grandchildren. They were her pride and joy.
58:33 Speaker 07 This is the first time I don't get to send my mum flowers or give her a card on Mother's Day, see her beautiful garden and be with her at her family gatherings. Mum, we love you and we miss you. We think of you every day.
58:52 Speaker 07 We are reaching out to the public for help. If you have any information about what happened to my mum, please contact the Lethbridge Police Services so they can put my mum to rest peacefully and we can start to heal.
59:09 Speaker 03 As Sergeant Ryan Steph put it, Lisa Bowman looked like she was trying her best to try to cry. Irene Carter's niece would describe Lisa's behaviour at this press conference as, quote, "truly an academy award-winning deceitful performance." Her husband Scott also wiped under his eyes with a tissue at several points. Was it genuine or was he in on whatever his wife was doing too? Neither of them had any idea that the press conference was just a decoy, a ruse.
59:47 Speaker 03 At that moment, police officers were outside covertly installing a listening device inside their car. Now to motivate a conversation.
1:00:02 Speaker 03 Before Lisa and Scott Bowman left, the police casually asked Lisa if she had any idea why her mother might have recently taken another mortgage out on her house. She acted surprised and said she didn't know, and the officer thanked her and walked off. Obviously, the police already knew that it was Lisa who took out that mortgage using her power of attorney. The fact that she was trying to hide it was notable, but they also wanted to know if her husband knew. Scott Bowman always appeared credible, honest and genuine, and his alibi was solid.
1:00:44 Speaker 03 Did he know anything about the web of deceit his wife had been weaving? Investigators received their answer almost immediately. As soon as Lisa and Scott got in their car, he immediately confronted her about the mortgage and demanded she tell him the truth. Lisa admitted it was her who took out the mortgage, but said she used the money to pay for their son Oliver's university tuition. Scott appeared to accept this explanation, but he was angry and upset. It was clear to investigators that he had no idea his wife was even gambling again,
1:01:26 Speaker 03 so it was extremely unlikely that he had any knowledge of her involvement in Irene Carter's murder. Investigators returned to their son Oliver to find out if what his mother said was true.
1:01:43 Speaker 03 Oliver Bowman confirmed that his mother never helped him out with any of his student loans or university tuition, and he became upset. He told investigators that he now believed that she must have murdered Irene Carter. And with that came another distressing realisation. Oliver told police that the morning of Sunday, January 17, when his mother called and asked him to check up on his grandmother, he told her he was on a camping trip. Police, of course, already knew this from Lisa's version of events. But Oliver said he actually lied to his mother that day.
1:02:28 Speaker 03 He wasn't camping at all, he was actually in Lethbridge the whole time. He was just sick of her constant request to check up on Irene. While his grandmother was nice and had given him money for his tuition in the past, Oliver told police she wasn't always easy to get along with. And that Sunday when Lisa called to ask him a favour, he felt overwhelmed and just needed a break, so he lied to her. But now that he believed his mother had murdered Irene, he suddenly realised the very sinister intentions behind her request that day.
1:03:09 Speaker 03 Lisa Bowman had been intentionally trying to set up her own son to discover the body of his murdered grandmother, something that would likely have left him traumatised. When Oliver said he wasn't able to, Lisa asked her husband Scott to drive to Lethbridge with her and set him up to be that person by waiting back and letting him enter the house first.
1:03:38 Speaker 03 So here's what happened the day that Lisa Bowman committed the second degree murder of her mother Irene Carter. The morning of Wednesday, January 13th, 2016, Irene's friend dropped her back home after their casino breakfast and she pushed the button on her answering machine. A message had been left by her insurance agent saying that she owed the company $65 and had lost her mortgage-free discount. Irene was likely shocked to hear this. Then, the phone rang. It was Lisa, calling to check in. Irene was extremely upset about the mortgage
1:04:22 Speaker 03 and they started arguing straight away. When the call ended abruptly, Lisa got in her car and drove from Calgary to Lethbridge to meet her mother face to face.
1:04:39 Speaker 03 There were no cars on Irene Carter's driveway and no healthcare workers inside her home. But Lisa chose to park down the street this time instead of the driveway, which suggested an element of intent and planning. Like Lisa knew, there would be an ugly confrontation at best and didn't want anyone to see her car in the driveway that day. What you're about to hear is from the agreed statement of facts. Although obviously it's from Lisa's perspective, since she's the only involved party still alive. Lisa confronted her mother in the house and they got into a screaming match.
1:05:24 Speaker 03 Irene told her she knew she was gambling again. Irene knew all about Lisa's struggles and had bailed her out several times in the past, but not this time. She called Lisa "a horrible daughter", and she wished she'd never adopted her. She also wished Lisa were dead, adding, "I could just kill you right now."
1:05:50 Speaker 03 The elderly woman then grabbed a knife from her kitchen knife block and ordered her daughter out of the house, threatening to call her husband Scott. Lisa reached over and grabbed the knife, then turned it on her mother. She stabbed the 78-year-old 12 times in the chest, and twice in the shoulder, then pushed her down the stairs towards the front door. Lisa says Irene was bleeding profusely in the front entryway, but still moving. And for a second she thought about calling an ambulance, but decided to do the opposite. Lisa went down the stairs, grabbed her mother's head,
1:06:33 Speaker 03 and banged it on the floor repeatedly to finish off the job. She was satisfied that Irene was no longer breathing, but disconnected the landline and kept the cord just to make sure her mother couldn't call for help if she was still alive. Lisa then staged the scene to make it look like a botched robbery, throwing things around the home and rummaging through her mother's drawers. She took the knife and the phone cord and left the house, not realising that she had also left behind four fingerprints in her mother's quickly drying blood.
1:07:17 Speaker 03 On the drive back to Calgary, Lisa stopped off the highway to dispose of the knife and the phone cord. She texted her son Oliver and asked him to tell his father Scott that she'd been at the gym that afternoon. She didn't tell him why. According to Lisa, when she got home, she saw blood on her hair and thought, "Cover it up, cover it up." She washed her car, threw her shoes in the garbage and the clothing she'd been wearing into a charity bin. Whoever Terry Lynn may have been, Lisa Bowman did not give her a pink jacket.
1:07:57 Speaker 03 And that's one thing that remained a mystery, that Terry Lynn press conference with the pink jacket on display. After Lisa Bowman's arrest, the police announced they were no longer looking for Terry Lynn. It's unclear if she was ever a real person, or investigators ever believed what Lisa had told them about why she was in injury that day. It appears most likely that the press conference was an attempt to call Lisa Bowman's bluff. And you may have missed it the first time, but listen carefully to Sergeant Ryan Steph's Freudian slip during that press conference.
1:08:39 Speaker 04 If you have any information about Lisa, sorry, about Terry Lynn, can you please contact me at...
1:08:49 Speaker 03 At sentencing, the Crown described the extreme level of violence Lisa Bowman leveraged against her mother as "remarkable." The defence suggested it was proportional to Lisa's trauma triggers resulting from her troubled relationship with Irene, but both sides agreed she shouldn't be eligible for parole for 11 years. It was also noted that Lisa and Scott Bowman were still in the process of divorcing. Neither he nor their children attended court to support her that day.
1:09:25 Speaker 03 The court heard a number of victim impact statements from Irene Carter's loved ones. Her sister and only sibling told the court that Irene was killed in a wicked, wicked manner. Irene's niece recalled being part of a gambling intervention once organised for Lisa. She said deep down she always believed her cousin was guilty, and described feelings ranging from sadness and fear to rage and betrayal.
1:09:59 Speaker 03 One of Irene Carter's healthcare workers described feelings of intense guilt when she wasn't able to protect her elderly client and friend, adding that the murder had shaken her confidence in her ability to do her job. She told Lisa, quote, "You showed me all that is evil in this world. I have no forgiveness in my heart for you." Other family members spoke about how they couldn't bring themselves to tell Jack Carter the truth when he started asking why his wife and daughter stopped visiting him at the care facility. Eventually, they told him Irene had passed away of natural causes
1:10:42 Speaker 03 and let him assume that their daughter Lisa was too busy to visit. Quote, "Knowing the truth would have broken his heart. Perhaps this is what actually happened." Just a month before Lisa Bowman pleaded guilty, Jack Carter passed away at the care facility, aged 83. He was laid to rest next to his wife. Their only daughter Lisa Bowman gave a brief statement of her own before being sentenced. Quote, "There's nothing I can say or do that will change the events. I know forgiveness is no option. I'm so sorry for everything I've done to everyone.
1:11:25 Speaker 03 For the rest of my life, I will regret this and I'm very sorry."
1:11:31 Speaker 03 Lisa Bowman was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 11 years. She will be eligible to apply in 2029. The judge described her actions as mindless and evil. Quote, "No person deserves to leave this earth like your mother did."
1:12:01 Speaker 03 Thanks for listening and our sincere condolences to Irene Carter's loved ones. For more information and help relating to gambling problems or elder abuse, see the show notes or the page for this episode at canadiantruecrime.ca. You'll also find all the other resources we relied on to write this episode, including a link to watch the episode of CBC's The Detectives called Out of Lies, part of the last season which aired in 2020. Canadian True Crime donates monthly to those facing injustice. This month, we have donated to the Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse,
1:12:45 Speaker 03 who are on a mission to make sure older Canadians are valued, respected, and live free from abuse. Learn more at cnpea.ca or see the show notes. Audio editing was by Eric Crosby, who also voiced the disclaimer. Our senior producer is Lindsay Eldridge and Carol Weinberg is our script consultant. Research, writing, narration, and sound design was by me, and the theme songs were composed by We Talk of Dreams. I'll be back soon with another Canadian True Crime story. See you then.
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Next Introducing: Someone Knows Something Page updated November 7, 2026 · transcript and summary are machine-generated