Man who killed first wife faces death for killing second
Jason...@virgin.net
Friday, May 07, 1999
By John M.R. Bull, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Sadly, reluctantly, a jury yesterday ordered Timothy Boczkowski to be
put to death for killing his second wife in his North Hills hot tub in
1994, in much the same way he had killed his first wife.
At least two jurors cried as their verdict was announced. Others
sniffled.
Two of Boczkowski's teen-age children wept and hugged each other.
Celebrations by dozens of members of Maryann Fullerton Boczkowski's
family were muted.
Even hardened police officers were saddened.
"I feel so badly for the families. Even if you win sometimes, it's not
that great," said Detective Jim Cvetic, head of the homicide team that
investigated the case.
The jury convicted Boczkowski, 43, a denture maker from Ross, of
first-degree murder Wednesday.
Yesterday, jurors unanimously agreed that he should be put to death for
strangling Maryann Boczkowski in a hot tub. He already had been
sentenced to life in prison in the 1990 asphyxiation of his first wife,
Mary Elaine, in a bathtub in North Carolina. He was convicted in North
Carolina of that murder in 1996.
Judge David S. Cercone imposed the death sentence immediately.
"I think it was an appropriate sentence," said prosecutor Edward
Borkowski. "He took the hearts and emotions of two families and
destroyed them. He devastated two sets of parents, aunts, uncles,
cousins. There's a path of emotional devastation that reads like a phone
book."
The jurors clearly struggled over the impact that their decision would
have on his three children, Randy, Sandy and Todd, all of whom asked
the jury to spare their father's life. Jurors declined to talk about
their verdict afterward.
"The kids are victims for a third time," said defense attorney Jack
Conflenti, trying to control his emotions. "They lost two mothers. Now
they are losing a father."
Maryann Fullerton's mother, Loretta, has struggled over her desire for
retribution for her daughter and a concern for the three children her
daughter adopted.
"I go back and forth. One day I hate him and want him to pay for what
he did," Loretta Fullerton said between her tears. "Then there are the
children. ... Maryann loved and cared about them. And we know they are
hurting too."
The jury decided the evidence was clear that Timothy Boczkowski
strangled his wife in the hot tub Nov. 6, 1994, and had prepared a
defense months ahead of time by telling friends and neighbors she was an
alcoholic who might hurt herself from her drinking someday.
The medical evidence was convincing that she was strangled and suffered
roughly 50 bruises, mostly on her head and neck.
Three jailhouse inmates testified that Boczkowski indirectly confessed
by agreeing it was "stupid" to kill two wives in the same way.
The jury wasn't allowed to hear evidence that Boczkowski obtained
chloroform, used to anesthetize people, before Maryann Boczkowski was
found dead.
Boczkowski argued that his second wife accidentally drowned and was not
strangled. Her injuries, he said, must have been caused when she was
pulled from the hot tub or by paramedics who worked to revive her.
It was a coincidence, he argued, that two of his wives would die in such
sudden, mysterious ways, both in tubs.
The case was full of coincidences, such as:
A Ross detective who helped in the investigation, Gary Waters, used to
date Maryann Fullerton years before she married Boczkowski.
Another detective, John Herb, is the brother of attorney Jim Herb, who
handled all but the penalty phase of Boczkowski's defense.
Both wives weighed 151 pounds when they died. They were both originally
from the North Hills, and are buried in the same North Hills cemetery.
The graves are relatively near each other.
When the jury rejected Boczkowski's defense, he put his children on the
stand to plead to the jury to spare his life.
His daughter, Sandy, 15, cried as she told the jury that she needed her
father.
That defense strategy angered some of Maryann Boczkowski's relatives
and friends.
"He was still using his kids at the very end," seethed her aunt, Ruth
Schumann.
"We're going to the grave and taping over the Boczkowski. It should
never have been there. Seventeen months of marriage, and it destroyed
150 people."
Throughout the trial Boczkowski, remained emotionless, even when his
daughter was crying on the witness stand in a vain attempt to save his
life.
True to form, Boczkowski showed no emotion when sentenced to die. He
merely asked his defense attorney about his appeal rights and if there
was a way to speak with his parents. He also said he was innocent,
Conflenti related.
That reaction was a far cry from his response when his daughter was done
with her tearful testimony.
At that point, Boczkowski turned to his attorney and quietly asked that
he be brought a sandwich later in his holding cell, Maryann Boczkowski's
relatives noted.
"He's a cold-blooded killer," said Gaye Barbiaux, a close friend of the
victim."He set all this up. Maryann was a wonderful person. She didn't
deserve to die. No one deserves to die like this. Finally, justice is
done, and we can get on with our lives."
Under state law, the state Supreme Court will automatically review the
case.