The man arrested for hitting and killing a woman with his pickup over the weekend initially denied involvement, but later confessed after detectives presented them with their evidence, according to court documents.
The woman, identified by family as Melissa L. Tolliver, died after being struck by a pickup late Saturday night on East Holland near the North Division Wye. The driver of the pickup fled the scene.
The next night, a Spokane Police officer spotted a pickup that matched the description of the suspect's pickup and noticed it had front end damage. The driver, Bobby Bowerman, was arrested.
Newly released court documents show Bowerman knew he hit Tolliver but failed to stop.
During his interview with detectives, Bowerman first told them the damage to his pickup happened hours before his arrest while he was parked at the Arena for the Garth Brooks concert.
When asked where he was the night Tolliver was hit, Bowerman told detectives he was visiting a woman he had met on a dating website in Hayden, Idaho. Detectives searched Idaho's automated license plate reader system and found Bowerman had not been past a BOSS license plate reader since September 2, 2017.
Detectives asked Bowerman where he was parked at the concert and then went to check out the exact spot for signs of a collision, but did not find anything and noted the damage to Bowerman's truck was more extensive than just a parking lot fender bender.
After presenting Bowerman with the inconsistencies in his story, Bowerman admitted to being the driver who hit Tolliver.
"That's exactly what happened," Bowerman told detectives according to court records. "I did it."
When asked how he knew he hit something, Bowerman stated, "well visually you see it."
When asked what he thought he hit, Bowerman stated, "Worst case scenario, a person, like a human being. That's something I have to live with."
According to court documents, Bowerman stated that he knew he shouldn't have left the scene, but he panicked.
Following his interview with detectives, Bowerman authored an apology letter to Tolliver's family outlining his involvement and gave it to investigators. Court records show he also wrote an apology to his son and parents.
(story and photo: KHQ.com)