Murder in the Heartland Read online

  Praise for MURDER IN THE HEARTLAND

  “Drawing on interviews with law officers and relatives, Murder in the Heartland will interest anyone who has followed the Stinnett case. The author has done significant research and—demonstrating how modern forensics and the Internet played critical, even unexpected roles in the investigation—his facile writing pulls the reader along.”

  —St. Louis Post-Dispatch

  “Phelps uses a unique combination of investigative skills and narrative insight to give readers an exclusive, insider’s look into the events surrounding this incredible, high-profile American tragedy…. He has written a compassionate, riveting true crime masterpiece.”

  —Anne Bremner, op-ed columnist and legal analyst on Court TV, MSNBC, Nancy Grace, FOX News Channel, The O’Reilly Factor, CNN, Good Morning America, and The Early Show

  “When unimaginable horror strikes, it is certain to cause monstrous sufferings, regardless of its locale. In Murder in the Heartland, M. Williams Phelps expertly reminds us that when the darkest form of evil invades the quiet and safe outposts of rural America, the tragedy is greatly magnified. Get ready for some sleepless nights.”

  —Carlton Stowers, Edgar Award–winning author of Careless Whispers, Scream at the Sky and To the Last Breath

  “This is the most disturbing and moving look at murder in rural America since Capote’s In Cold Blood.”

  —Gregg Olsen, New York Times bestselling author of Abandoned Prayers

  “A crisp, no-nonsense account…masterful.”

  —Bucks County Courier Times

  “An unflinching investigation…Phelps explores this tragedy with courage, insight, and compassion.”

  —Lima News (Lima, OH)

  Praise for SLEEP IN HEAVENLY PEACE

  “An exceptional book by an exceptional true crime writer. In Sleep in Heavenly Peace, M. William Phelps exposes long-hidden secrets and reveals disquieting truths. Page by page, Phelps skillfully probes the disturbed mind of a mother guilty of the ultimate betrayal.”

  —Kathryn Casey, author of She Wanted It All and A Warrant to Kill

  Praise for EVERY MOVE YOU MAKE

  “An insightful and fast-paced examination of the inner workings of a good cop and his bad informant culminating in an unforgettable truth-is-stranger-than-fiction climax.”

  —Michael M. Baden, M.D., author of Unnatural Death

  “M. William Phelps is the rising star of the nonfiction crime genre, and his true tales of murderers and mayhem are scary-as-hell thrill rides into the dark heart of the inhuman condition.”

  —Douglas Clegg, author of The Lady of Serpents

  Praise for LETHAL GUARDIAN

  “An intense roller-coaster of a crime story. Matt Phelps’ book Lethal Guardian is at once complex, with a plethora of twists and turns worthy of any great detective mystery, and yet so well-laid out, so crisply written with such detail to character and place that it reads more like a novel than your standard non-fiction crime book.”

  —New York Times bestselling author Steve Jackson

  Praise for PERFECT POISON

  “Perfect Poison is a horrific tale of nurse Kristen Gilbert’s insatiable desire to kill the most helpless of victims—her own patients. A stunner from beginning to end, Phelps renders the story expertly, with flawless research and an explosive narrative. Phelps unravels the devastating case against nurse Kristen Gilbert and shockingly reveals that unimaginable evil sometimes comes in pretty packages.”

  —Gregg Olsen, bestselling author of Abandoned Prayers, Mockingbird, and If Loving You Is Wrong

  “M. William Phelps’s Perfect Poison is true crime at its best—compelling, gripping, an edge-of-the-seat thriller. All the way through, Phelps packs wallops of delight with his skillful ability to narrate a suspenseful story and his encyclopedic knowledge of police procedures. Perfect Poison is the perfect antidote for a dreary night!”

  —Harvey Rachlin, author of The Making of a Detective and The Making of a Cop

  “A compelling account of terror that only comes when the author dedicates himself to unmasking the psychopath with facts, insight and the other proven methods of journalistic leg work.”

  —Lowell Cauffiel, bestselling author of House of Secrets

  “A blood-curdling page turner and a meticulously researched study of the inner recesses of the mind of a psychopathic narcissist.”

  —Sam Vaknin, author of Malignant Self Love—Narcissism Revisited

  MURDER IN THE HEARTLAND

  M. WILLIAM PHELPS

  PINNACLE BOOKS

  Kensington Publishing Corp.

  http://www.kensingtonbooks.com

  For Mom

  Contents

  A NOTE TO READERS

  PREFACE

  PROLOGUE

  I: THE RUSE

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23

  CHAPTER 24

  CHAPTER 25

  CHAPTER 26

  CHAPTER 27

  CHAPTER 28

  CHAPTER 29

  CHAPTER 30

  CHAPTER 31

  CHAPTER 32

  CHAPTER 33

  CHAPTER 34

  CHAPTER 35

  CHAPTER 36

  CHAPTER 37

  CHAPTER 38

  CHAPTER 39

  CHAPTER 40

  CHAPTER 41

  CHAPTER 42

  CHAPTER 43

  CHAPTER 44

  CHAPTER 45

  CHAPTER 46

  CHAPTER 47

  CHAPTER 48

  CHAPTER 49

  II: A SORT OF HOMECOMING

  CHAPTER 50

  CHAPTER 51

  CHAPTER 52

  CHAPTER 53

  CHAPTER 54

  CHAPTER 55

  CHAPTER 56

  CHAPTER 57

  CHAPTER 58

  CHAPTER 59

  CHAPTER 60

  CHAPTER 61

  CHAPTER 62

  CHAPTER 63

  CHAPTER 64

  CHAPTER 65

  CHAPTER 66

  CHAPTER 67

  CHAPTER 68

  CHAPTER 69

  CHAPTER 70

  CHAPTER 71

  CHAPTER 72

  CHAPTER 73

  CHAPTER 74

  CHAPTER 75

  CHAPTER 76

  CHAPTER 77

  III: MOTHERHOOD

  CHAPTER 78

  CHAPTER 79

  CHAPTER 80

  CHAPTER 81

  CHAPTER 82

  CHAPTER 83

  CHAPTER 84

  CHAPTER 85

  CHAPTER 86

  CHAPTER 87

  CHAPTER 88

  CHAPTER 89

  CHAPTER 90

  CHAPTER 91

  CHAPTER 92

  CHAPTER 93

  CHAPTER 94

  CHAPTER 95

  CHAPTER 96

  CHAPTER 97

  CHAPTER 98

  CHAPTER 99

  IV: GOD IS CALLING

  CHAPTER 100

  CHAPTER 101

  CHAPTER 102

  CHAPTER 103

  CHAPTER 104

  CHAPTER 105

 
; CHAPTER 106

  CHAPTER 107

  CHAPTER 108

  CHAPTER 109

  CHAPTER 110

  CHAPTER 111

  CHAPTER 112

  CHAPTER 113

  CHAPTER 114

  CHAPTER 115

  CHAPTER 116

  CHAPTER 117

  CHAPTER 118

  CHAPTER 119

  CHAPTER 120

  CHAPTER 121

  EPILOGUE

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  SOURCES

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  SPECIAL UPDATE FOR THE PAPERBACK EDITION

  A NOTE TO READERS

  Murder in the Heartland was written during an ongoing murder investigation. An arrest has been made, a confession of the crime made public, but the investigation is still active as we go to press. The book does not attempt to solve any portion of the crime or taint the investigation and/or prosecution of the accused. Any allegations made by parties in the book against the accused are brought forth under their own opinions, thoughts, and judgments. The author does not, in any way, make conclusions about the case but aims to unravel this complicated true story and offer some sort of understanding (and insight) about the events herein.

  PREFACE

  My own introduction to murder came years ago when a family member was slain by a drug-crazed serial killer who preyed on helpless, vulnerable women in the Hartford, Connecticut, region. She was my oldest brother’s wife, five months pregnant when her assailant reportedly put a pillowcase over her head and strangled her with a telephone cord. He was a large man, a professional-football-player type. An average-sized woman herself, she had no chance.

  Although I wasn’t writing about true crime then, I didn’t realize how significant her murder would be to my work later on in life. Her death showed me that painful events such as murder carry over into everyday life in subtle ways, and hover, like guilt, over many of the things we do. Through the years, I’ve often sat and thought about this as I interviewed victims of murder: relatives, loved ones, friends, spouses, community members close to a case.

  Soon after I finished investigating the Bobbie Jo Stinnett murder case, however, I realized the exclusive information I had uncovered while researching the book you are about to read had tested everything I thought I knew about life, loss, community, and dealing with unexpected tragedy.

  As I was finishing my last book in December 2004, the Bobbie Jo Stinnett murder became front-page news. For about a week during the Christmas holiday, I couldn’t turn on the television or open a newspaper without hearing something about the case. Everyone wanted to know what had driven a woman to cut another woman’s child from her womb, killing the mother of the child. It became one of the most high-profile crime stories of the year.

  I followed the case, made a few calls, interviewed some of the people involved, and began gathering anything I could find related to the case, with the thought I might one day pursue it as a book. I often juggle about ten to twelve cases before I decide on a book subject. I write dozens of letters to the people involved, send them, and see what happens. Who calls or writes back. A litmus test, to see how many people will talk on record.

  The first letter I wrote pertaining to the Stinnett case was addressed to Carl Boman, the alleged perpetrator’s ex-husband. I figured, if I could get Mr. Boman to come forward, I would have a powerful story to tell. He knew the accused perpetrator better than anyone; he could tell me things about her no one else could, and, more importantly, he could help me understand the psychology behind her possible motives, which fascinated me more than anything else.

  I wrote Mr. Boman a letter, printed it out, placed it in an envelope, and put it in the out-box I have on my desk—but, for whatever reason, never sent it. Wait, something told me.

  One afternoon a few months later, I was working at my desk when a little dialogue box on the bottom corner of my computer screen alerted me an e-mail had just arrived.

  Then the name of the sender appeared in the box: Carl Boman.

  “I want you to write this story,” he wrote. “I need to get the truth out. There’s way too much speculation and rumor out in public right now.”

  I was pleasantly shocked, to say the least, that Carl Boman had reached out to me. Still a bit skeptical, however, during our first telephone conversation, I said, “Let’s talk about this. Tell me a little bit about what you know.”

  “Well, I have known her,” Mr. Boman said first, referring to the alleged perpetrator, “for twenty years, and fathered four of her children. I’ve been right in the middle of everything for two decades. My life—my kids’ lives—have been torn apart by all of this. Two of my children held Bobbie Jo’s baby on the night she was murdered.”

  “Why me, though?” I asked.

  “You seem very thorough. Like you can tell this story and put aside the rumor and speculation.”

  “I can’t pay you,” I said. “I never pay sources.”

  “I don’t want money. I only want the truth.”

  Thus began my quest. Through Carl Boman and my own garrulous way of reaching out to people, I’ve been introduced to scores of sources for this book. Mr. Boman’s children, all of whom have spoken to me in one form or another, are incredibly tough kids. They have been through a lot and lost more than most might assume; they are victims, too. Not that Bobbie Jo Stinnett and her immediate family haven’t lost the most. But I’ve learned in the years of writing true-crime books, along with a tragedy of similar scope in my own family, the pain involved in the aftermath of murder—that is, if it is to be weighed on a scale of emotion—is equal, no matter which side you’re on.

  People suffer.

  No pain is greater than any other.

  Fundamentally, this is a story of loss, life, and being able to move forward in the face of an immeasurable tragedy. The accused killer’s children still love their mother. But more than that, as Mr. Boman said to me once, “This is a tragic death that should have never happened—and that’s one of the main reasons why I want to get this story out. The whole story. Everything that led up to this senseless murder needs to be told as a cautionary tale so people understand how mentally ill people who don’t get professional help are potential time bombs. In this country, we need to take the issue of mental health more seriously.”

  While writing this book, I was amazed by the candor and honesty of some, while appalled by the lies of others. Especially flattering was that Sheriff Ben Espey, the law enforcement hero of this book, opened up and told me his story.

  In the end, I found a story of two towns, two mothers, several children, one “miracle” child, an ex-husband left to clean up twenty years of family dysfunction, a sheriff determined to find a missing child, and a telling look into the heart of America.

  I’ve written a number of true-crime books now and have seen and described the most depraved people in society. I thought I had become hardened by all the murder in my professional life, and nothing could break me. But this story turned me inside out. To understand why this crime happened is one thing; yet to sit and digest this material for as long as I did made me realize that people truly are capable of just about anything, especially when driven by desperation.

  This, then, is not your typical, straightforward true-crime account: body, investigation, background of victim and perpetrator, trial, verdict, sentence. Some of those elements will appear, certainly. But this story encompasses two families, many victims, and two towns coming to terms with a senseless, incredibly hideous murder. Here, I give you the entire story as it played out from day one—but also, most important, the all-inclusive backstory of the alleged perpetrator, which explains why she did what she did and how she, her immediate family, and the two towns are coping with the aftermath today.

  —M. WILLIAM PHELPS

  Vernon, CT

  PROLOGUE

  Desperation

  On December 13, 2004, Lisa Montgomery e-mailed her ex-husband, Carl Boman, about picking up their children. Carl a
nd Lisa had been divorced (a second time) for five years. They lived hundreds of miles apart, in different states. Weekend visitations had become a tangled mess of changed times and dates, failed promises, and heated arguments—all brought on, Carl insisted, by his ex-wife.