The Gruesome Murder-Suicide of The Couple That Peaked During Hurricane Katrina

The love (and death) story of Zach Bowen and Addie Hall.

Zack Bowen and Adriane “Addie” Hall outside of their apartment after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005; Photo Source

On October 17, 2006, the New Orleans Police Department got a call from the Omni Royal Orleans Hotel at around 8:30 P.M. The hotel was reporting a guest they saw who jumped off of the rooftop bar, fell seven stories, and died on impact from landing on the top of a parking garage.

The police rush to the scene and next to the building they find the body of 28-year-old Zack Bowen. At first glance, the police saw this as nothing more than just a suicide. Moments later, they were able to locate a plastic bag in Bowen’s right front pocket. Inside the plastic bag was a short note to the police, his army dog tags, and a key to his apartment in the French Quarter. The note contained Zack’s address along with the name of his landlord to grant permission to a search warrant.

The short message he wrote said:

“This is not accidental. I had to take my own life to pay for the one I took. If you send a patrol car to 826 N Rampart, you will find the dismembered corpse of my girlfriend Addie in the oven, on the stove, and in the fridge and a full signed confession from myself.”

Zack Bowen

It was upon reading this note, the New Orleans Police realized they were dealing with homicide and suicide. But let’s backtrack to who our suicide victim, Zackary Bowen is.

Zackary “Zack” Bowen was born on May 15, 1978, in Bakersfield, California, and spent the majority of his childhood within the state. For the most part, Zack grew up as your pretty average American boy.

Throughout his life, he seemed to always worry about letting the people around him down and how others perceived his success and failures.

Zack started to fall into a depressive state in high school, so he decided to give his life a fresh start elsewhere. Zack moved from Sacramento, California (where he was living with his mom and attending high school) to New Orleans, Louisiana to live with his father. Once arriving, Zack finished his high school education and got a job as a bartender when he was 18.