Bio

Bryan Nathan Hower was born on April 10, 1977. By 2010, he was married to Bonnie Lynn Hower, 33, and the couple lived together with their two children on Timberlake Road West in Lakeland, Polk County, Florida. Their marriage had reportedly become strained, with disputes emerging over the custody of their children.

Murder Story

On June 11, 2010, Bonnie Lynn Hower was killed at the couple’s home in Lakeland, Florida. According to reports based on sheriff’s office information, Bryan Hower admitted that he and Bonnie had argued after she said she was leaving him and taking the children to the beach. The argument escalated, and Hower strangled her until she stopped moving.

After the killing, Hower placed Bonnie Hower’s body in a hole behind the home. Reports described the location as a wooded area behind the couple’s Timberlake Road West residence and said the hole was an area where the family had previously disposed of dead animals. Her purse was also found with her body.

The case came to police attention after the couple’s 10-year-old daughter became worried about her mother’s disappearance and her father’s behavior. A relative contacted authorities, and a deputy searching the area behind the home found Bonnie Hower’s remains.

Hower later claimed at trial that he acted in self-defense. He testified that Bonnie attacked him during an argument over custody of their children and that he was trying to stop her. The defense argued that he panicked after her death and hid the body because he did not know what to do.

Prosecutors rejected the self-defense claim. They argued that Hower made a conscious decision to kill Bonnie because he did not want her to leave with the children. They also pointed to his actions after the killing, including hiding the body and lying about Bonnie’s whereabouts, as evidence that the killing was not self-defense.

In August 2011, a Polk County jury rejected Hower’s self-defense claim and found him guilty of first-degree murder. Circuit Judge Donald Jacobsen then sentenced him to life imprisonment for the killing of Bonnie Hower.

A later Florida Second District Court of Appeal entry from July 8, 2020, lists the case as State of Florida v. Bryan N. Hower and states only that the lower court ruling was affirmed. Bryan N. Hower remains listed as incarcerated in the Florida Department of Corrections under inmate number C05915.