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State of
Missouri vs. William T. Boliek
706 S.W.2d 847 (Mo.banc
1986)
Case Facts:
In August of 1983, Boliek was living in Linda Turner’s home. Aside from
Turner, other residents of the home included Boliek’s lover Jill Harless,
Turner’s brother Don Anderson, and Vernon Wait.
The victim, Jody
Harless, arrived to visit her sister Jill, and stayed at the Turner
house. One Friday evening, Boliek, Wait, Anderson, and Jody Harless
robbed the home of an acquaintance, Stan Gray, at gunpoint.
Afterward, fearing
retaliation from Gray and his friends, Boliek acquired a 12 gauge
shotgun, and Wait acquired a .410 sawed off shotgun. Boliek and Wait
began to discuss the necessity of "getting rid of witnesses" to the
robbery. Learning the police wanted to speak with Gray, Boliek, Wait and
the Harless sisters left Kansas City on the following Monday.
Boliek convinced them
to drive to Thayer, Missouri to hide out with Boliek’s parents. They
robbed a liquor store in Nevada on the way.
Later that night, they
made a rest stop along Route M in Oregon County. After the car stopped,
Jody Harless got out. As she was walking back to the car, Boliek took
the 12 gauge shotgun from the car and shot her. She grabbed her stomach
but continued to walk towards the car. She began to plead with Boliek.
Wait grabbed Harless and forced her to the ground and Boliek shot her
again.
Boliek told the victims
sister that he had fired the second shot into the victim’s mouth and
neck so identification of the body would be impossible.
Boliek was arrested
September 6, 1983, in Decatur, Illinois, for an armed robbery of a gas
station committed earlier that day. When arrested, he had in his
possession the shotgun and shotgun shells he had used to kill Jody
Harless. Boliek managed to escape from custody but was recaptured.
A rancher riding his
fence line discovered the body of Jody Harless on September 10, 1983, 28
feet from Highway M in Oregon County. Police investigators discovered
two live .410 shotgun shells and two 12 gauge expended shells near the
body.
The victims decomposed
body was unidentifiable by viewing and had to be identified by dental
records. She had been killed by a shotgun wound to the head.
At trial, Boliek
claimed that when he fired the first shot he did not know the gun was
loaded. The second shot, he said, was fired by Wait. The jury found
Boliek guilty of capital murder and imposed the death sentence.
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