The Fayetteville Observer reports Judge Greg Weeks on Tuesday ordered 63-year-old Bobby E. Bowden to be released from prison by 5 p.m. Friday.

 

The Fayetteville man has been incarcerated since his arrest and conviction for the deaths of two people at a convenience store in 1975.

 

State lawyers had argued that a life sentence should mean Bowden stays in prison the rest of his life and shouldn't be able to reduce his sentence with good behavior credits. But Weeks said Bowden had been earning the credits until 2009, and that the state can't change the rules retroactively.