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[IN] Amanda Bach Murder Case -
Dustin McCowan's Appeal
http://michiganoidv.blogspot.com/2014/04/in-amanda-bach-murder-case-dustin.html
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The sheriff department, prosecutor, and Amanda's parents believe that Officer Joseph Elliot McCowan [Crown Point Indiana PD] played a role in covering up his son's murder of Amanda Bach:
Amanda Bach Murder Case - Investigation of Officer Joseph Elliott McCowan [Crown Point Indiana PD] - September 2011 - April 2013
Dustin McCowan's father files for bankruptcy
April 24, 2014
NWI Times
Bob Kasarda
http://m.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/portage/dustin-mccowan-s-father-files-for-bankruptcy/article_03ab43a1-32ea-55a8-9acf-ae5e57e89e1b.html?mobile_touch=true
HAMMOND | Joseph McCowan, father of convicted murderer Dustin McCowan, has filed for bankruptcy, according to federal court records.
The filing comes on the heels of a federal lawsuit filed by American Family Mutual Insurance Co. arguing it should not be held liable as part of a civil legal battle stemming from Dustin McCowan's 2011 murder of Portage resident and former girlfriend Amanda Bach.
The company targets the parents of the deceased woman and the McCowans, arguing that while it had provided a homeowner policy at the time to the family of Dustin McCowan, the coverage did not apply to incidents of intentional bodily injury or injury arising out of criminal behavior resulting in a conviction.
The insurance company is not named in the July lawsuit filed at the county level by the parents of Amanda Bach against Dustin McCowan and Joseph Elliott McCowan.
Yet the company is asking a federal judge to determine it has no financial or other responsibility in the civil dispute.
William and Sandra Bach are seeking an unspecified amount of money in the suit, which targets Dustin McCowan's intentional acts under the Indiana Child Wrongful Death statute.
The civil suit further accuses Joseph McCowan of contributing to the murder by not properly securing his firearms, one of which Dustin McCowan is believed to have used to shoot and kill 19-year-old Bach on Sept. 16, 2011.
Elliott McCowan's insurance company wants out of Bach's wrongful death suit
By KEVIN NEVERS
Posted 2/18/2014
Chesterton Tribune
Elliott McCowan’s homeowner’s insurance company has filed suit in federal court seeking a judge’s determination that it has no obligation to cover either McCowan or his son, Dustin--the convicted murderer of Amanda Bach--for any claims which might arise from the wrongful death suit filed last year by Bach’s parents.
The American Family Mutual Insurance Company filed that suit on Friday. It names Elliott and Dustin McCowan and Bach’s parents, William and Sandra.
According to the suit, at the time of Bach’s death by gunshot wound, on or about Aug. 16, 2011, Elliott McCowan was the holder of a homeowner’s insurance policy with a liability limit of $500,000 per occurrence of bodily injury or properly damage.
However, the suit argues, exclusions from liability coverage include the following:
* When the bodily injury is caused intentionally.
* When the bodily injury arises out of a violation of any criminal law.
Also excluded from coverage: any punitive or exemplary damages.
American Family is thus asking the court to “declare and determine” the following: that its policy does not cover either McCowan for any claims arising out of the murder; and that the company has no obligation to defend or indemnify either McCowan against any claims made in the Bachs’ suit, no obligation to compromise or settle any such claim, and no obligation to pay in any part any judgment rendered against either or both.
McCowan was convicted on Feb. 26, 2012, of Bach’s murder and is serving a 60-year sentence in the Pendleton Correction Facility in Madison County.
Count I of the Bachs’ suit notes that on or about Aug. 16, 2011, Dustin McCowan “negligently, carelessly, recklessly, and/or intentionally shot Amanda Bach”; that she “suffered a horrific, terrible, untimely, wrongful death”; and that her parents, under the Indiana Child Wrongful Death statute, are “entitled to recover for the loss of love, affection, and companionship, attorney fees, costs of this action, burial, and funeral bills.”
Count II names Elliott McCowan and hinges on the enduring mystery of the case: what firearm did Dustin McCowan use to shoot Bach? and what became of that weapon?
Prosecutors suggested at trial that the murder weapon was Elliott McCowan’s Smith & Wesson .38 caliber Airlite revolver, which he testified at trial he kept under a sofa in the living room but which he reported missing shortly after Bach’s body was discovered.
That revolver has never been found.
“Upon information and belief,” the suit alleges, Dustin McCowan “used his father’s firearms to fatally shoot Amanda Bach.”
Those firearms “were not properly secured” and “were accessible to his minor son,” according to the suit, although Elliott McCowan “had a duty to properly secure his firearms when he was not home.”
The suit concludes that a “direct and proximate cause of Amanda Bach’s death and fatal shooting” was Elliott McCowan’s “carelessness and negligence.”
The suit does not specify the amount sought by the Bachs.
Slain woman's parents sue convicted killer, dad
August 07, 2013
NWI Times
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/state-and-regional/indiana/slain-woman-s-parents-sue-convicted-killer-dad/article_25d8200e-871e-5363-9425-7dc1fae47dd0.html
The parents of a northern Indiana woman fatally shot in 2011 are suing the man convicted in her killing and his father.
William and Sandra Bach's civil suit seeks an unspecified amount of money from Dustin McCowan and his father, Joseph Elliott McCowan.
Dustin McCowan was sentenced in March to 60 years in prison in the fatal September 2011 shooting of his 19-year-old ex-girlfriend, Amanda Bach of Portage.
The Bachs' suit accuses Joseph McCowan of contributing to the murder by not properly securing his firearms, one of which Dustin McCowan is believed to have used to kill Bach.
The Times of Munster reports ( http://bit.ly/11K9Sj8) police have said they believe Joseph McCowan, a Crown Point police officer, may have helped his son try to cover up the murder.
Suit targets convicted murderer Dustin McCowan, his father
August 06, 2013 - 12:40 pm
Bob Kasarda
NWI Times
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/porter/wheeler/suit-targets-convicted-murderer-dustin-mccowan-his-father/article_80df615e-ac4c-5dab-b7d4-521a1f522b7c.html
William and Sandra Bach are seeking an unspecified amount of money in their suit against Dustin McCowan and his father, Joseph Elliott McCowan.
The Bachs are claiming they are entitled to reasonable compensation from Dustin McCowan for their loss.
The suit accuses Joseph McCowan of contributing to the murder by not properly securing his firearms, one of which Dustin McCowan is believed to have used to shoot and kill 19-year-old Bach on Sept. 16, 2011.
"Defendant, Joseph Elliott McCowan, had a duty to properly secure his firearms when he was not home," the suit states.
The Bachs cite the Indiana Child Wrongful Death statute to justify their claim against Joseph McCowan.
Dustin McCowan was sentenced in March to 60 years in prison for murdering the Portage resident, who was a former girlfriend.
A jury heard evidence for nearly a month before finding him guilty of shooting Bach in the throat during the early morning hours after she showed up at the Union Township home he was living in at the time with his father. Bach's partially clothed body was found the following day less than 300 yards from the house in a wooded area along County Road 625 West at the Canadian National Railroad tracks.
County police have said they believe Joseph McCowan, a Crown Point police officer, may have aided his son in attempting to cover up the murder.
Dustin McCowan failed in his first shot at overturning his sentence and conviction in May. Porter Superior Court Judge Bill Alexa tossed out claims that he erred by not stepping aside after learning about a telephone call with McCowan from the jail that included derogatory and threatening remarks about prosecutors, police and their family members.
An appeal is expected in the case.
Amanda Bach’s parents suing murderer and father
By James D. Wolf Jr.
Post-Tribune correspondent
August 5, 2013 6:38PM
http://posttrib.suntimes.com/news/porter/21744326-418/amanda-bachs-parents-suing-murderer-and-father.html
VALPARAISO — The parents of Amanda Bach are suing both the man who killed their daughter on Sept. 16, 2011, and his father.
A lawsuit filed in Porter County on July 31 names both Dustin McCowan, now 20, and Joseph Elliott McCowan, a police officer with the Crown Point Police Department.
Dustin was convicted of 19-year-old Bach’s murder on Feb. 26 after an almost month-long trial.
Porter Superior Court Judge William Alexa sentenced the younger McCowan to 60 years in prison March 28 for the death of the Portage girl.
The attorney for William and Sandra Bach, David E. Woodward of Woodward and Blaskovich, said his clients did not want to comment on the matter.
John Vouga of Vouga and Associates, who with Nick Barnes defended Dustin McCowan, said that he has an appointment to meet with the elder McCowan on Friday.
"Our official stance is it’s not worth commenting on right now," Vouga said.
Dustin McCowan’s appeal is now being handled by a public defender.
The Bachs’ suit states that the parents are suing under the Indiana Child Wrongful Death statute and "are entitled to recover for loss of love, affection and companionship, as well as all other damages permitted."
They included the father in the suit because he "failed to properly secure his firearms in which his son, Defendant, Dustin McCowan, had access," the suit states.
"A direct and proximate cause of Amanda Bach’s death and fatal shooting, was the carelessness and negligence of the Defendant, Joseph Elliott McCowan," according to the suit.
Police were made aware of Bach’s death when her car was found abandoned in downtown Wheeler, north of where the McCowans lived then.
Search parties found her body Sept. 17 in a copse of trees near tracks, close to where the McCowans lived and where Dustin was known to dispose of trash from parties.
She had been shot in the neck by a .38 caliber gun, and the elder McCowan’s .38 pistol that was kept under a sofa was discovered to be missing shortly after the body was found.
Also See:
Amanda Bach Murder - Dustin McCowan charged with murder http://michiganoidv.blogspot.com/2011/09/in-amanda-bach-murder-case_16.html
Amanda Bach Murder Case - Investigation of Officer Joseph Elliott McCowan [Crown Point Indiana PD] - September 2011 - April 2013
Amanda Bach Murder Case - Dustin McCowan Trial and Conviction- Feb 04, 2013
Amanda Bach Murder Case - Dustin McCowan Sentenced - March 28, 2013
Amanda Bach Murder Case - Videos
