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BELLEFONTE- On Wednesday, Judge Pamela Ruest denied Mirinda Boob’s petition for relief of her four convictions in the slaying of her husband, Samuel Boob.
Mirinda Boob had filed for relief of her charges of first-degree murder, third-degree murder, criminal conspiracy – criminal homicide, and criminal conspiracy – aggravated assault, according to the Centre County District Attorney’s office.
In 2012, the defendant hired her lover, Ron Heichel, as a hit man to kill her husband. The murder was deemed intentional and premeditated. Boob and Heichel were both tried and convicted.
The Superior Court previously denied Boob’s and Heichel’s appeal to the Superior and Pennsylvania Supreme Courts in the fall of 2012.
Boob filed a petition under the Post Conviction Relief Act, claiming that her attorney was ineffective and violated her constitutional rights asking for a hearing on the matter before the trial court, according to the report from the Centre D.A.’s office.
Boob complained that her attorney was ineffective for failing to file a motion to enforce an alleged plea agreement.
The Commonwealth’s response to this claim called it meritless and asked the judge to dismiss it without a hearing.
The court agreed, concluding there was never an official plea agreement, noting that while District Attorney Michael Madeira may have been willing to entertain discussion of a plea, when he was succeeded by D.A. Stacy Parks Miller, she chose not to continue those discussions or ever make any type of deal with the defendant, according to the report from her office.
Samuel Boob was fatally shot on Aug. 23, 2009. The defendant was convicted of being the conspirator that convinced Heichel to fire the fatal shots ending Samuel Boob’s life.
The D.A.’s report also summarizes the events of 2012.
Heichel had been working at the Grange Fair and met Mirinda Boob just weeks earlier at Snappy’s in Centre Hall. They struck up a relationship and together hatched a plan in which Heichel traveled to the victim’s home and hid inside the garage.
The defendants worked together to then lure the victim out to the garage where Heichel was waiting. Heichel shot the victim twice with the victim’s shotgun at close range, killing him. Heichel then fled the scene in a Garbrick’s truck with another fair worker, Kermit Butts.
Boob arranged to “discover” her husband as he lay dying in their driveway, feigning despair over his condition and ignorance as to what had happened as she spoke to the 911 operator. The discovery of text messages from the morning of the shooting between the two defendants plotting to lure Samuel Boob to the garage indicated her foreknowledge and complicity in the events leading up to her husband’s death.
The Commonwealth proved that in 2008 and 2009, prior to meeting Heichel, Boob had previously solicited two other men she had engaged in extra-marital affairs with to kill her husband.
Testimony at trial indicated that Boob was interested in starting her life over and hoped the victim’s life insurance would finance her new beginning.
District Attorney Miller stated, “We are pleased that the court has denied this baseless claim. The victim’s family deserves finality and justice. We will continue to fight for them and ensure that this murderer stays where she belongs.”