Alleged Lynn firebomber boasted of attack

LYNN – A city arson investigator said the suspect in a June Molotov cocktail attack on a homeless couple bragged about the assault to other homeless individuals who did not pass on the confession to authorities.Brian Bowman, 28, with an address of 191 Eutaw Ave. listed in court records, pleaded not guilty in District Court Monday to setting Joseph Ross and Evelyn O?Neil-Choury ablaze June 26 at 1:30 a.m. as they slept inside a concrete culvert pipe off the Lynnway near the U-Haul franchise.?People who frequent this area had actually talked to Bowman and he had admitted it to them,” Fire Lt. David Legere said.A police report filed in court described how Bowman lit a Gatorade bottle filled with gasoline, tugged aside the U-Haul blanket covering one end of the pipe and tossed the bottle into the pipe.?I blew them up,” a police report filed in court quoted him as confessing.Ross, 44, received third degree burns on his stomach and groin and O?Neil, 42, suffered burns on one of her legs and feet. The pair were hospitalized after firefighters responded to the fire.?They?ve got visible scars,” Legere said.Police acting on initial information provided by Lynn shelter workers questioned a homeless man who had been romantically rebuffed by O?Neil as a suspect in the attack.The man provided a verifiable alibi but Legere gradually focused on Bowman as a “person of interest.” He questioned Bowman last Friday after receiving a tip about Bowman?s connection to the attack.?If it wasn?t for this tip we?d still be chasing someone else,” Legere said.Bowman, who has a court record and has been hospitalized for psychiatric treatment, told Legere “Joe Ross had confronted him with a large knife and accused him of stealing his fishing gear.”?He stated his intention was to scare Ross and O?Neil,” Legere wrote in a report filed with court documents.Judge Matthew Nestor set $20,000 cash bail for Bowman on Monday and ordered him to return to court on Sept. 10. Legere urged homeless individuals to report crimes.?The authorities treat crimes against the homeless like crimes against anyone else and we need witnesses,” he said.