CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — A Chillicothe man was placed on probation for threatening to kill the local hospital’s top executive.
Hoyle “Beau” Bowman, of Chillicothe, was charged with telecommunications harassment and menacing after law enforcement allege he made threatening comments online toward Adena Health System’s Chief Executive and spouse. The comments were made in February.
Bowman took a plea bargain last week suggesting online that someone murder CEO Jeff Graham and his wife. Graham and Bowman are former coworkers; Bowman was hired in 2019 to lead the mega health system’s fundraising arm. He was fired a couple years later after fallout during an ongoing lawsuit involving several doctors who left the hospital.Graham has been in the media spotlight and community hot seat for several months under intent scrutiny for his management style and fiscal spending.
Bowman had initially pleaded not guilty to the charges and hired a lawyer two months ago. After plea deal discussions, the law director’s office agreed to drop the menacing charge last week in exchange for a guilty plea to the harassment. The Judge agreed to fine Bowman $200, place him on two years probation, and order him to serve 200 hours of community service.
In his termination, Bowman was told he “stepped in it too deep” and that he was a liability, records show. His firing stems from a land acquisition that the hospital purchased in an attempt to stop a competitor from building next door. In the land deal, Bowman claims he was tasked by Graham to investigate who was behind a land deal near Adena’s campus and if it was a competing health organization, Adena wanted to go behind them and outbid them. In the end, Bowman discovered that competing organization OhioHealth was poised to buy the parcel on Hospital Road. Adena ultimately ended up with the property, paying more than double the asking price of $3 million, ripping it out from under their competitor.
The Guardian first reported on the land purchase by Adena earlier this year.
When the overpayment was revealed in a lawsuit filed by former doctors, Bowman said he was fired and his cell phone was taken by the hospital, where evidence, such as text messages were destroyed. He claimed his termination and the destruction of evidence was an attempt by the hospital’s management to hide the overpayment of land because “they did not want the community to know they spent millions on unused land just to stop someone else from building.” The Guardian has not been able to independently confirm Bowman’s claims of evidence exploitation.
Adena hired around-the-clock security from the off duty Ross County Sheriff’s deputies for $40 an hour to protect Graham and others in light of the threats. In addition, the Sheriff has moved the entire patrol, detective, and administration divisions to be housed on the hospital’s campus.