McCracken double homicide timeline revealed
By Kat Russell, Reporter
The Paducah Sun
April 23, 2016
http://www.paducahsun.com/news/local/042316_PS_DoubleMurder_Folo
It's been a week since the main suspect in a recent McCracken double homicide was shot and killed by law enforcement officers in Antioch, Illinois, but Sheriff Jon Hayden said his detectives are still working to connect the dots.
The bodies of Gerald Boyes, 73, and his longtime partner Billie Potter, 67, were found by a family friend just before 7 p.m. on April 12 at their Riegel Lane home. The couple had moved to Paducah about a year ago from the Antioch area.
Boyes was found in the backyard, Hayden said, and Potter was found near the home's entryway. The sheriff said they believe the two were beaten to death with a hammer sometime between 9 and 11 a.m. on April 11.
Boyes' son, Gerald R. Boyes Jr., 53, of Jacksonville, Florida, quickly became the prime suspect, the sheriff said.
Detectives canvassed the neighborhood through Tuesday night and into Wednesday afternoon, interviewing neighbors and friends, and contacting family members. During those interviews, Hayden said, it became apparent they needed to talk to Boyes Jr.
"We learned that the deceased couple, they were extremely afraid of him," Hayden said. "It was stressed to us that they were terrified of him."
Detectives Matt Carter and Darrin Frommeyer began digging into the son's background, learning he had an "extensive criminal record," that included several convictions for assaults with deadly weapons, robberies and burglaries, as well as an escape from a state penitentiary, Hayden said.
"He certainly had a violent history," he said. "We determined that out of the past 30 years of his life, he had been in prison for 22 years of it on several different cases."
The son, Hayden added, was also on parole after serving time on a 60-year sentence.
During their investigation, Hayden said detectives learned Boyes had two sons, Boyes Jr. and a younger son, Gregory Boyes, 50, of Antioch, who was killed in 2015 when he was hit by a motorist.
The father was the arbiter of his younger son's estate, Hayden said, adding Boyes Jr. may have been angry about the way his father handled his brother's money.
Detectives made several attempts to contact Boyes Jr., Hayden said, without success.
"We had attempted to contact him by telephone, initially to notify him that his father and Ms. Potter were deceased, but he would not accept our calls or return our messages," he said.
Hayden said detectives eventually spoke to the son's mother in Antioch who told them Boyes Jr. knew what had happened and told her he wasn't going to talk.
Detectives also subpoenaed bank and phone records for Boyes, Potter and Boyes Jr., Hayden said, adding cellphone records for Boyes Jr. showed he was in Paducah at the time of the slayings.
Hayden said they also reached out to Florida authorities to help locate Boyes Jr.
"They advised us, after some investigation, that Boyes Jr. had rented a white 2015 Ford Flex in early March that he had never returned," he said.
On April 14, Hayden said Carter and Frommeyer headed to Jacksonville, but soon learned through a law enforcement data base that he was in Illinois and turned around, arriving in Illinois early the next morning.
"(Frommeyer) found that earlier that day, at about 2 p.m., Boyes Jr. had pawned a wallet at a pawn shop in the Chicago area," Hayden said.
That sent up a red flag, Hayden said, because at the crime scene it had been apparent the father's wallet and two handguns had been taken.
Boyes Jr. was located about 12:15 a.m. Saturday at Topps Sports Bar on Ill. 173 near Antioch, Hayden said.
Four officers, two from the Lake County Sheriff's Office and two from the McHenry County department, were waiting to arrest him on a Florida warrant when Boyes Jr. exited the bar and got into the stolen Ford Flex, according to the Daily Herald.
Officials said as the officers moved in, Boyes Jr. brandished a handgun and was shot several times. He died at the scene. The Daily Herald reported the deputies' vehicles were not equipped with video cameras and no 911 calls were made.
The four officers have been placed on administrative leave while the shooting is investigated, according to the Associated Press.
Detectives recovered a pair of blue jeans that appeared to be crusted with mud and blood from the stolen vehicle, as well as prescription bottles in the father's name, Hayden said.
Even with the suspect dead, Hayden said, his detectives are continuing to investigate.
Several items recovered from the crime scene, including a bloody hammer that was found in the couple's kitchen sink, shoe prints and fingerprints, and blood evidence are being analyzed at the Kentucky State Police crime lab.
Video surveillance was also collected from the BP gas station at Hinkleville Road and James-Sanders Boulevard that showed Boyes Jr. leaving the Paducah area the morning of April 12, the day after the slayings, Hayden said.
It will take months for the results to come back, he said, adding he is confident the results will continue to indicate Boyes Jr. was the killer.
"Every thread of evidence that we have up to this point would indicate that he is the person that committed this double homicide," Hayden said. "We're anxiously awaiting as more evidence comes in and based on the totality of everything that we know to be true thus far, it's quite likely that evidence is going to continue to support that."
Contact Kat Russell, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8653.
The bodies of Gerald Boyes, 73, and his longtime partner Billie Potter, 67, were found by a family friend just before 7 p.m. on April 12 at their Riegel Lane home. The couple had moved to Paducah about a year ago from the Antioch area.
Boyes was found in the backyard, Hayden said, and Potter was found near the home's entryway. The sheriff said they believe the two were beaten to death with a hammer sometime between 9 and 11 a.m. on April 11.
Boyes' son, Gerald R. Boyes Jr., 53, of Jacksonville, Florida, quickly became the prime suspect, the sheriff said.
Detectives canvassed the neighborhood through Tuesday night and into Wednesday afternoon, interviewing neighbors and friends, and contacting family members. During those interviews, Hayden said, it became apparent they needed to talk to Boyes Jr.
"We learned that the deceased couple, they were extremely afraid of him," Hayden said. "It was stressed to us that they were terrified of him."
Detectives Matt Carter and Darrin Frommeyer began digging into the son's background, learning he had an "extensive criminal record," that included several convictions for assaults with deadly weapons, robberies and burglaries, as well as an escape from a state penitentiary, Hayden said.
"He certainly had a violent history," he said. "We determined that out of the past 30 years of his life, he had been in prison for 22 years of it on several different cases."
The son, Hayden added, was also on parole after serving time on a 60-year sentence.
During their investigation, Hayden said detectives learned Boyes had two sons, Boyes Jr. and a younger son, Gregory Boyes, 50, of Antioch, who was killed in 2015 when he was hit by a motorist.
The father was the arbiter of his younger son's estate, Hayden said, adding Boyes Jr. may have been angry about the way his father handled his brother's money.
Detectives made several attempts to contact Boyes Jr., Hayden said, without success.
"We had attempted to contact him by telephone, initially to notify him that his father and Ms. Potter were deceased, but he would not accept our calls or return our messages," he said.
Hayden said detectives eventually spoke to the son's mother in Antioch who told them Boyes Jr. knew what had happened and told her he wasn't going to talk.
Detectives also subpoenaed bank and phone records for Boyes, Potter and Boyes Jr., Hayden said, adding cellphone records for Boyes Jr. showed he was in Paducah at the time of the slayings.
Hayden said they also reached out to Florida authorities to help locate Boyes Jr.
"They advised us, after some investigation, that Boyes Jr. had rented a white 2015 Ford Flex in early March that he had never returned," he said.
On April 14, Hayden said Carter and Frommeyer headed to Jacksonville, but soon learned through a law enforcement data base that he was in Illinois and turned around, arriving in Illinois early the next morning.
"(Frommeyer) found that earlier that day, at about 2 p.m., Boyes Jr. had pawned a wallet at a pawn shop in the Chicago area," Hayden said.
That sent up a red flag, Hayden said, because at the crime scene it had been apparent the father's wallet and two handguns had been taken.
Boyes Jr. was located about 12:15 a.m. Saturday at Topps Sports Bar on Ill. 173 near Antioch, Hayden said.
Four officers, two from the Lake County Sheriff's Office and two from the McHenry County department, were waiting to arrest him on a Florida warrant when Boyes Jr. exited the bar and got into the stolen Ford Flex, according to the Daily Herald.
Officials said as the officers moved in, Boyes Jr. brandished a handgun and was shot several times. He died at the scene. The Daily Herald reported the deputies' vehicles were not equipped with video cameras and no 911 calls were made.
The four officers have been placed on administrative leave while the shooting is investigated, according to the Associated Press.
Detectives recovered a pair of blue jeans that appeared to be crusted with mud and blood from the stolen vehicle, as well as prescription bottles in the father's name, Hayden said.
Even with the suspect dead, Hayden said, his detectives are continuing to investigate.
Several items recovered from the crime scene, including a bloody hammer that was found in the couple's kitchen sink, shoe prints and fingerprints, and blood evidence are being analyzed at the Kentucky State Police crime lab.
Video surveillance was also collected from the BP gas station at Hinkleville Road and James-Sanders Boulevard that showed Boyes Jr. leaving the Paducah area the morning of April 12, the day after the slayings, Hayden said.
It will take months for the results to come back, he said, adding he is confident the results will continue to indicate Boyes Jr. was the killer.
"Every thread of evidence that we have up to this point would indicate that he is the person that committed this double homicide," Hayden said. "We're anxiously awaiting as more evidence comes in and based on the totality of everything that we know to be true thus far, it's quite likely that evidence is going to continue to support that."
Contact Kat Russell, a Paducah Sun staff writer, at 270-575-8653.
