Florida man sentenced in cold-case murder of Bucks County teen
George F. Shaw, 57, of Geneva, Fla., was sentenced Monday to 13 1/2 to 27 years in prison for the 1984 murder of Barbara Rowan, a "sweet" and "innocent" 14-year-old from down the street who sometimes babysat his toddler.
A Florida man was sentenced Monday to 13½ to 27 years in prison for the 1984 murder of a Bucks County teenager, according to the district attorney's office.
George F. Shaw, 57, of Geneva, Fla., was found guilty in July of third-degree murder and attempted indecent assault of 14-year-old Barbara Rowan, whom family and friends described as "sweet" and "innocent." After a brief bench trial, Common Pleas Court Judge Wallace H. Bateman Jr. took five days to determine the verdict, which he handed down without comment.
Monday's sentencing marked the latest chapter in a case that has spanned more than three decades.
After a 2015 grand jury investigation, Shaw was charged in October of that year with murder, rape, and other offenses. Through lawyer Louis Busico, Shaw has maintained his innocence, insisting that Rowan was killed by someone else.
Busico did not return a request for additional comment as of Monday afternoon.
Rowan, a petite redhead, was last seen alive on Aug. 3, 1984, playing outside her family's Old Lincoln Highway mobile home in the Trevose section of Bensalem.
Rowan was reported missing that same day, prosecutors said, after she didn't arrive home by her 7 p.m. curfew. Less than two weeks later, her decomposed body was found in a wooded area between Route 1 and North River Drive in Bensalem Township.
Rowan's arms and legs were taped, and she was wearing only a shirt. Her father, Robert Rowan, described his daughter, and only child, as "just a skeleton."
In the early days, Shaw was interviewed by police, and multiple times changed his account of when he last saw Rowan at the apartment where he lived with his wife and 2-year-old daughter. Shaw lived down the street from the Rowan family's home, and the girl sometimes babysat for the Shaws.
Authorities were unable to press charges for more than 30 years, until Shaw's former drug buddy Robert Sanders, 53, of Willow Grove, told that 2015 grand jury that he had been in Shaw's apartment when the murder occurred and helped dispose of the girl's body.
During the non-jury trial, Busico questioned Sanders about his prior use of cocaine and methamphetamine and asked whether the possibility of a lengthy jail sentence influenced his decision to testify.
Sanders pleaded guilty to lying to authorities for so many years and was sentenced last month to three to seven years in prison, with credit for time previously served.
Staff Writer Justine McDaniel contributed to this article.