A 40-page grand jury presentment details the investigation into O Boyle, who allegedly was seen on nearby surveillance video entering and exiting Sowa s property around the time the chiropractor stopped responding to phone calls.
O Boyle was linked to a white Nissan Altima whose license plate number was then traced to a residence on the 2200 block of Byberry Road.
Bensalem police records found that officers had responded to the property months earlier for a report that O Boyle allegedly punched his father.
Investigators determined that O Boyle was a patient of Sowa s in September. Witnesses testified that O Boyle was upset about the treatment he received for jaw pain, prosecutors said.
BENSALEM, Pennsylvania (WPVI) Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub announced charges Friday in the November 2, 2020 murder of Dr. James Sowa.
Weintraub said 22-year-old Joseph Robert O Boyle, of Bensalem, has been charged with one count of criminal homicide, burglary, criminal trespass, and possession of an instrument of crime.
Authorities said O Boyle entered Sowa s chiropractic office and hit him on the back of the head with a blunt object, and beat his jaw with an object.
Sowa s records showed O Boyle had been a patient of his in September 2020, and witnesses testified O Boyle was upset about the treatment he received that day for jaw pain.
UpdatedFri, Jan 8, 2021 at 12:48 pm ET
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Prosecutors say the 22-year-old blamed Bensalem s Dr. James Sowa for making his jaw pain worse after a treatment in September. (Bucks Co DA)
James Sowa, 64, of Bensalem, grew up in Penndel and graduated from Neshaminy High School in 1974. (Bucks County District Attorney s Office)
BENSALEM, PA A Bensalem man beat a local chiropractor to death after becoming obsessed with him and blaming him for treatment he believed made pain in his jaw worse, according to prosecutors.
Joseph Robert O Boyle, 22, of Bensalem, has been charged with criminal homicide, burglary, criminal trespass and possession of an instrument of crime in the Nov. 2 slaying of James Sowa. Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub announced the charges on Friday.
“He had never harmed a person. He certainly didn’t deserve this.”
According to the grand jury testimony, O’Boyle’s mother said he had begun complaining about pain in his jaw in February of 2019. In September of last year, Sowa treated him for the pain, Weintraub said.
Bucks County District Attorney s Office
Joseph O Boyle shown in a police mug shot.
However, he subsequently complained “incessantly” to family members that his jaw pain had gotten worse and “improperly, incorrectly and in a misguided way” blamed Sowa, the district attorney said.
O’Boyle went on to kill Sowa in a “poetic, perverse irony,” motivated by a “jaw for a jaw” view of revenge, Weintraub said. The 22-year-old was also charged with assaulting a detective during the course of the investigation into Sowa’s killing.
Prosecutors: Disgruntled patient brutally beat Bucks County chiropractor to death
Published
Joseph O Boyle, 22, has been charged in the death of Dr. James Sowa.
BENSALEM,PA - Prosecutors say a man arrested for the murder of a Bucks County chiropractor was a former patient who became disgruntled after seeking the doctor s help for jaw pain.
Joseph O Boyle, 22, has been charged with criminal homicide, burglary and related charges in the brutal killing of Dr. James Sowa.
According to investigators, O Boyle visited Dr. Sowa for treatment of jaw pain. After the visit, O Boyle allegedly became obsessed with Dr. Sowa and blamed the 63-year-old for worsening his jaw pain.