A Soldotna man has been charged in the murder of his roommate.
Twenty-eight-year-old Nathan Penrod was arrested on charges of murder and assault Wednesday for fatally shooting 29-year-old Zechariah Bowman, also of Soldotna, and threatening his ex-fiance with a handgun.
Court documents signed by Trooper Samuel Webber said dispatchers received calls from the 27-year-old woman around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 29. She told dispatchers her ex-fiance had shot Bowman, who she identified as her boyfriend. Not long after she made the call, Penrod himself called dispatchers and said he shot his neighbor after the neighbor threatened to kill him.
When troopers arrived on the scene, they found Bowman dead on the floor near a kitchen island in his home with multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and head. Close to his body was a loaded .22 caliber revolver, though troopers said no rounds appeared to have been fired from that gun.
In an interview with a trooper after the incident, the woman said Penrod was subletting a room from Bowman in his Soldotna rental house.
She said she had slept at Bowman’s the night of March 28. The next morning, when Bowman left his room, she heard three gunshots and Penrod shouting.
She said when she rushed out to the hallway, she saw Penrod with a black handgun. When she tried to grab her phone, Penrod pointed the gun at her and told her he’d kill Bowman if she called for help. When the woman tried to take his gun, Penrod pointed the gun at her a second time.
She said, after a struggle, she was able to leave the house and run to a neighbor’s house, where she phoned troopers.
Troopers found Penrod at his father’s house. They impounded and towed his vehicle, which his father said contained his firearm.
Further inspection revealed a .45 caliber pistol inside the vehicle. Investigators also found four spent .45-caliber shell casings on the floor near the victim at the scene.
The woman told Troopers Bowman owned a .22 caliber handgun, but said she did not remember seeing a firearm on him that morning.
Close to midnight that night, officers arrested Penrod for murder in the first degree and assault in the third degree. He’s scheduled to appear in court Wednesday morning for a bail hearing and Friday for a preliminary hearing.
