Boys v. State, 572S61

• Docket Nº: No. 572S61
• Citation: 304 N.E.2d 789, 261 Ind. 413
• Case Date: December 26, 1973
• Court: Supreme Court of Indiana

Page 789

304 N.E.2d 789 261 Ind. 413 Arthur BOYS, Appellant,
v.
STATE of Indiana, Appellee. No. 572S61. Supreme Court of Indiana. Dec. 26, 1973.

[261 Ind. 414] John R. Brant, II, Harlan, Schussler & Keller, Richmond, for appellant.

Page 790

Theodore L. Sendak, Atty. Gen., A. Frank Gleaves, III, Deputy Atty. Gen., Indianapolis, for appellee.

GIVAN, Justice. ^*

Appellant was charged by indictment for the first degree murder of Ernestine Owens. Trial by jury resulted in a verdict of guilty of second degree murder. Appellant was sentenced to the Indiana State Prison for the indeterminate period of 15 to 25 years.

The record reveals the following evidence:

The appellant was the decedent's former boy friend.

On July 14, 1970, at 11:00 P.M., Robert Thomas went to the home of Ernestine Owens. Upon entering the house, he found the body of Ernestine Owens wrapped in a drape and lying on the floor.

Authorities who were summoned found that Mrs. Owens had died from forty-four stab wounds to various parts of her body, including her heart and her throat. Tests revealed that Mrs. Owens had type B blood.

Further investigation revealed that at about 5:30 P.M. on July 14, 1970, Ernestine Owens had gone to a grocery store operated by Edna Balthis. Mrs. Balthis testified that while Mrs. Owens was in the store the appellant entered two different times to make small purchases. When Mrs. Owens left the store, appellant was seen driving slowly past her in the same direction. Mrs. Balthis had seen appellant in her store several times, but only when Mrs. Owens was also in the store.

Shortly thereafter, Rheita Day saw the appellant in an alley near Mrs. Owens' home. He was seen walking one direction [261 Ind. 415] in the alley with a bundle under his arm, and shortly thereafter he was seen going in the opposite direction without the bundle. Mrs. Day noticed red spots on appellant's clothing.

About 5:30 P.M. Ulrichia Dixon noticed a tan station wagon parked in front of her house. She memorized the last four digits of the license number. She saw a man with appellant's general description cross the lawn of a neighbor's house in the direction of decedent's house. As he approached her she observed that he had a dark complexion, high cheekbones and a narrow face. In court she identified the appellant as the man she had seen. A certified copy of a Certificate of Auto Registration established that appellant's tan 1965 Pontiac station wagon had the same license number as the car that Mrs. Dixon had seen.

Frances McKinney, a neighbor of Mrs. Owens, saw a man of appellant's general description walking toward Mrs. Owens' home. A short while later she saw a person walking in the opposite direction wearing a pink dress and an 'afro-style' hairdo or wig. On the day following the murder, police found a pink dress and an afro-style wig in a puddle of water in the alley where appellant had been seen first carrying a bundle and then going in the opposite direction without the bundle.

At the end of the alley police found a knife. Laboratory tests showed the knife and the dress were spotted with type B blood. Fibers in the hilt of the knife matched fibers from the drape in which Mrs. Owens' body was wrapped.

Phillip Johnson, appellant's son, testified that he had owned a knife such as the one found by the police, and that appellant had taken it from him. At the grand jury hearing Phillip Johnson identified the knife found by the police as his. At the trial, however, he refused to identify the knife as his, but admitted that he had identified it before the grand jury.

Appellant's wife, Juanita Boys, was employed at the City Building and often

Page 791

worked in the police department. Mrs. [261 Ind. 416] Boys had made inquiry of the police as to whether or not her husband was suspected of the murder.

On July 22, 1970, Mrs. Boys was asked by the Chief of Detectives Ronald Chesnut if she knew what clothes her husband had worn on July 14, 1970. Mrs. Boys told him that she did know and gave Chief Chesnut permission to get the clothes from her home. Police officers took Mrs. Boys home. When they arrived, appellant was outside the house. His wife told him why the officers were there. Appellant then entered the house, led the officers to the bathroom where the clothes were soaking in the tub. Appellant wrung...