Shane Bowden: Neighbour of Pimpama unit complex say girlfriend ‘closed off’ since murder

The girlfriend of slain bikie Shane Bowden appears to be “closed off” and her children no longer play outside in the wake of the execution-style murder, neighbours who live in the complex say.

THE girlfriend of slain bikie Shane Bowden appears to be “closed off” and her children no longer play outside their Gold Coast unit in the wake of the execution-style murder, neighbours who live in the complex say.

Crystal Clement was inside the Pimpama property with her two children when Bowden was killed after driving her BMW home from a late-night gym session on October 12, 2020.

Neighbours have told the Bulletin Clement has since been driving a new car – a white Audi – and in the wake of the shooting has kept to herself.

“Other than being a little bit more closed off, it’s almost like nothing happened as far as what we’ve seen around her place,” a neighbour told the Bulletin, adding her children no longer play outside.

Crystal Clement leaves Southport Magistrates Court.

“She used to hang out the front and have a cigarette … there’s none of that. It’s like she just goes straight into the house.”

Clement paid tribute to Bowden in a social media post almost 10 days after the shooting, declaring her love for him and labelling the long-time bikie her “beautiful soldier”.

“The memories will never fade. I will always love you, that smile, those eyes, your personality. It will never be forgotten u only ever showed me love, affection and happiness. RIP my beautiful soldier u left me way to (sic) soon,” she wrote on October 21, 2020.

At the time of Bowden’s death, police said the pair had only been together for a short time.

Bowden had been living with her after fleeing Melbourne, and neighbours of the quiet unit complex said they had only seen him around over a period of two weeks.

He had travelled to Queensland during the Victorian COVID-19 outbreak with a gunshot wound to the leg, which he suffered in a drive-by shooting weeks after being released from prison.

Clement has previously been romantically involved with convicted drug kingpin Joshua Thornbury, and ex-bikie Leslie Markham.

She had previously been sentenced to three years’ jail, with immediate parole, in 2016 after pleading guilty to dozens of charges, including 40 counts of fraud and 34 counts of official corruption.
The charges related to her part in a scheme which enabled stolen vehicles to be rebirthed by a criminal network.

YESTERDAY:

SIX months on from bikie heavyweight Shane Bowden’s slaying, police are calling on any person who “may have had time to reflect” to come forward and help them crack the case.

Bowden, 48, was shot dead in an execution-style killing shortly after midnight on October 12 last year in the driveway of a Pimpama unit.

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Police previously revealed two hooded men lay in wait in a vacant northern Gold Coast lot in the hours leading-up to his murder.

Two burned out cars were found abandoned in Beenleigh and Ormeau following the killing, which detectives believe are connected to the crime.

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No one has yet been charged with the bikie heavyweight’s murder, which is believed to have been sparked by an internal feud within the Mongols bikie club in Victoria.

When contacted, Regional Crime Co-ordinator Detective Superintendent Brendan Smith said the investigation was ongoing and he appealed again to members of the public with any information to come forward.

“We are also calling on anyone who may have had time to reflect on what may have happened to contact police,” he said.

Bowden was a long-time member of the Finks motorcycle gang and played a key role in the infamous Glitter Strip Ballroom Blitz.

He “patched over” to the Mongols in 2013 but was booted from the club in Victoria shortly before his death.

Bowden had also survived an attempt on his life in the southern state before returning to Queensland.

Police at the murder scene in Lachlan St, Pimpama where notorious bikie Shane Bowden was gunned down in his driveway. Police with evidence bags. Picture: Glenn Hampson.

He had returned to his old club, the Finks, and is understood to have been recruiting for members in southeast Queensland in the weeks before his death.

“He had pi**ed off a lot of people, Shane, so when it (the shooting) happened it was like ‘Which one of dozens of angry people could have done this?’,” one source close to the investigation said.

“There was one theory that it was over a girl because he’d been involved with a few women he shouldn’t have been involved with, but it seems much more likely that he was killed over something bikie-related.”

Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.