Butts Charged in Boob Homicide - Updated

(Potter Township, Pennsylvania) A third suspect has been implicated as a conspirator in the murder of Samuel Boob.

Kermit Butts, 26, of Madisonburg, is accused of driving the suspected killer to and from the crime scene on the morning of the killing. […]

Police believe that Butts drove Ronald Heichel to the Boob home and picked him up later in the day on August 23rd, 2009. Police believe Heichel shot Sam Boob twice with a shotgun and killed him.

Mr. Butts has been charged with aggravated assault and assisting a murder suspect. He was booked into custody at the Centre County Prison.

* * * * *
The Boob Homicide Case
[Previous 8/28/10 post]
(Bellefonte, Pennsylvania) In August 2009, a 27-year-old woman, Mirinda Boob, was arrested for conspiring with 29-year-old fellow arrestee, Ronald Lee Heichel, to kill her husband, 29-year-old Samuel Sherman Boob.

Mirinda Boob was charged with conspiracy to commit criminal homicide and conspiracy to commit aggravated assault. Ronald Heichel was charged with murder, conspiracy, aggravated assault and theft.


 
Mirinda Boob -- Ronald Heichel

Interestingly, Mrs. Boob and Mr. Heichel were allegedly communicating via text messaging throughout the homicidal episode where Mr. Boob was shotgunned to death in his own garage with his own weapon.

Heichel shot Boob once in the left side of his chest as the victim stood near the garage entryway. After being shot once the victim stepped out of the building and fell to the ground. Heichel followed the victim out of the garage and fatally shot the victim again the the left midsection of the back. The victim died almost instantly and Heichel departed the scene in an unknown direction with the victim's shotgun.

Sometime prior to the shooting, Heichel arrived at the Boob property and secreted himself within the garage. Prior to his arrival and while hiding in the garage, Heichel engaged in text messaging with Mirinda.

The gist of the text messaging was to arrange with Mrs. Boob about what would transpire that morning. Specifically, the text messages indicate Heichel wanted Mrs. Boob to go to church because that would provide witnesses to her whereabouts. The defendant wanted Mrs. Boob to know he was hiding in the garage, told her to keep her children inside the residence, and wanted to know if the garage door would be unlocked.

Both Boob and Heichel await trial on first-degree murder charges, currently scheduled for October. Defense attorneys have asked for a change of venue citing contamination of the jury pool due to widespread media coverage.

Companion post at TJR.