A 59-year-old Cobb County man was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday for killing his boyfriend, a longtime drag queen performer, when the two argued over how dinner was prepared, the district attorney said.
Frank Davis Bowles, of Marietta, pleaded guilty to malice murder in the Oct. 3, 2014, death of Samuel Collins, DA Vic Reynolds said. Bowles shot Collins, 60, several times in the couple's Marietta-area home before dragging the man's body into the woods, investigators said.
Bowles then took Collins’ driver’s license, credit cards and van and drove to Tennessee, where he was arrested days later when state troopers found Bowles passed out in the van. Bowles confessed to the killing, the DA’s office said. He was extradited to the Cobb County jail.
“The defendant and Collins had a long and often tumultuous relationship that spanned years,” Deputy Chief ADA Jesse Evans said in an emailed statement. “Issues regarding domestic violence are not limited to gender or sexual orientation, and the consequences can be fatal.”
Collins was a longtime Atlanta drag queen performer and was known as "Kitty Litter," according to Project Q. "Kitty" had performed drag since 1972 in more than 200 clubs across 12 states. Two sisters of Collins were present in court Wednesday, and one read a statement.
“Frank, you are not a bad guy but you did a very bad thing,” Carrie Gunning said. “A thing that cannot be taken back or changed. And because of this bad thing we buried our brother.
“You have not denied what you did and even though it’s very hard, I must call it what it is … murder; as ugly as that is and as malice as it seems, it is still forgivable. That is exactly what we have done, Frank, is to forgive you, totally and fully.”
Bowles, who has been held without bond since his arrest, was sentenced to life in prison.
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