Building Inspector Murdered

2002 - Prosecutors said Kast killed Huntington County Building Inspector Earl Bowman nine days after he killed Berkshire.

[In Memory of Building Inspector Earl Bowamn]

Earl (44) went to do one last inspection for a home under construction. While at the inspection, a worker named Joseph Kast approached and stabbed Earl 4 times with a pocket knife, killing him. The murderer, Joseph Allen Kast, was a registered sex offender, fugitive for murder, and on methamphetamine at the time. He was also suspected of murdering an 85 year old man in Ohio just days before attacking Earl. Kast was found guilty, but mentally ill, and sentenced to 65 years in prison.

FORT WAYNE, Ind — A convicted killer has been sentenced to spend an additional 65 years in prison for another murder to which he allegedly confessed while he was behind bars.Allen County Judge John Surbeck on Friday ordered 35-year-old Joseph Kast to begin serving the new sentence after he completes the 55-year term he is already serving.A jury convicted Kast in December of murder in the fatal stabbing of 85-year-old Claude Berkshire in Berkshire's garage in 2002.

Prosecutors said Kast killed Huntington County Building Inspector Earl Bowman nine days after he killed Berkshire.

The Journal Gazette reported that Kast's mental state was an issue throughout the case, but jurors declined to find Kast guilty but mentally ill.

Surbeck said Kast showed contradictory signs regarding mental illness.

Reference: https://www.wlky.com/article/ind-man-sentenced-to-65-years-in-stabbing-death/3741945