John Bowie jailed for 1982 murder of his wife Roxlyn

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Bowie was sentenced to a maximum of 24 years in prison with the possibility of parole in 2037.

Roxlyn Bowie disappeared from her home in 1982. — Roxlyn Bowie disappeared from her home in the New South Wales town of Walgett in 1982. (A current affair)

Bowie has always denied his involvement in the disappearance, but Judge Dina Yehia was convinced he killed his wife in order to seek sex with a younger woman.

“He is now 72 and he will not be able to be released for some time,” she told the NSW Supreme Court on Friday.

As Yehia delivered the sentence, Bowie sat in the courtroom, face flushed and one hand over his mouth.

John Bowie was extradited from Brisbane to Sydney in 2019. A jury took less than four hours to find him guilty of murder. (PAA)

Meanwhile, Bowie’s sister Christine Maddocks and her daughter Brenda Boyd broke down in tears.

“I would rather have 24 years of Roxlyn than 24 years of confinement from John,” Ms Maddocks told AAP.

“That kind of thing consumes your whole life and it’s not the end of it for Brenda.”

Boyd has spent most of his life searching for his mother after the devoted carer disappeared when her daughter was six, leaving behind only a letter.

The ‘Dear John’ letter, which was in Mrs Bowie’s handwriting, stated that she was leaving her husband and children and specifically told them not to contact her.

In a later letter to her parents, she said: “Please don’t be hard on John, it wasn’t his fault.”

His body has never been found.

Yehia was convinced that Bowie had coerced his victim into writing these letters before killing her so that he could “claim that she had simply abandoned him and the children” and be closer to his mistress in Sydney.

A ‘Dear John’ letter, handwritten by Mrs Bowie, said she was leaving her husband and children. (A current affair)

Before her death, Ms Bowie was a loving mother trying her best in a relationship with a man who was a womanizer and heavy drinker.

Yehia said that meant it was unlikely she abandoned her children just because she was tired of her relationship with her husband.

She couldn’t determine exactly when Bowie manipulated his wife into writing the letters or if she was murdered at their Walgett home, but the judge was convinced he planned the murder and got away with it. of his body.

The court heard that Bowie grew up in an unstable home, often witnessed physical abuse between his mother and father, and had a history of violence against women.

He spent most of his life plagued by alcohol addiction and suffered from several mental and physical ailments.

Bowie was arrested for the murder of his wife in 2019 and will not be eligible for parole until October 2037.