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Van Buren judge: Deborah Boothby case can move forward: Clark rules there is enough evidence in 1998 murder to go to Circuit Court; suspects to be arraigned Friday
PAW PAW, Mar 13, 2010 (The Herald-Palladium - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
Van Buren District Court Judge Art Clarke III Friday ruled there was enough evidence in the 1998 murder of Deborah Boothby to move the case forward to Circuit Court.
Charged with first-degree murder are brothers Ivory and Scottie Shaver, and Shevolier Gill and Ed Foster.
A circuit court arraignment for the suspects is scheduled for Friday.
It took years for police to get to this point, because their investigation was hampered by a lack of people willing to come forward and tell police what happened, according to state police Detective Diane Oppenheim. Several dozen witnesses were interviewed in building the case, she said.
During this week's preliminary hearing, there was testimony that Boothby was beaten by several people outside the Blue Star Lounge and then was taken away and beaten again down a dead-end road.
The suspects then allegedly threw the seriously injured Boothby onto Blue Star Highway near the bar and ran her over with two cars to make it look like a hit-and-run accident, according to testimony.
The key testimony this week came from Adrienne Burnette, who has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in exchange for her testimony against the other four suspects. She faces eight to 20 years in prison for the murder conviction and for perjury.
Burnette testified that she drove over Boothby's body on April 26, 1998, at the request of suspect Scottie Shaver after Boothby had been beaten at the two locations.
Former Covert Township policeman Scott Boling testified he found Boothby's body on the road and called an ambulance.
Boothby was still alive and gasping for breath, he said.
"She was gasping and asking if she was going to die," Boling said.
Boothby died at a hospital within an hour.
Burnette had repeatedly lied to investigators about what happened but changed her story last year.
During this week's testimony, she said she lied because she was scared of retribution from Scottie Shaver if she told police the truth.
During the preliminary hearing, defense lawyers for the suspects tried to poke holes in Burnette's credibility, noting that she had made several untruthful statements to police before.
Toxicology reports showed Boothby was highly intoxicated at the time of death, with her blood alcohol level more than three times the legal limit for a driver.
An autopsy showed she had severe internal bleeding and many broken bones, said Dr. Walt Palutke, who did the autopsy.
Palutke testified that the beatings alone would likely not have caused fatal injuries, but that the injuries were consistent with a combination of the beatings and being run over by the cars.
alersten@TheH-P.com
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