Trial date set in murder of elderly man

Published 12:00 am Saturday, June 3, 2006

A tentative trial date has been scheduled in Lawrence County’s second murder trial this year.

Lawrence County Prosecutor J.B. Collier Jr., said Wednesday that a July 31 trial date has been set for John David Anderson, 20, of Carter County, Ky.

Anderson is accused of going to the Deering home of Arthur Eugene Boyer, robbing the elderly man, killing him and then setting his house on fire.

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“We’re waiting on a competency evaluation, and we should get that this week,” Collier said.

The pretrial conference tentatively is set for June 21, he said.

Boyer’s body was found in his burning house in July 2005. Anderson was arrested in Kentucky shortly thereafter.

The following month, a Lawrence County grand jury returned an eight-count indictment against him, including

two aggravated murder charges, both of which carry death penalty specifications.

Both murder charges are in connection with Boyer’s death but are different on technicalities. One stipulates that the murder was the result of a robbery or attempted robbery and the other stipulates that the murder was the result of a burglary or attempted burglary.

The grand jury also chose to indict Anderson on charges of first-degree aggravated robbery, first-degree aggravated burglary, second-degree aggravated arson, fourth-degree grand theft, third-degree tampering with evidence and fifth-degree abuse of a corpse. The robbery and burglary charges also carry firearms charges.

The Anderson case is the second death penalty trial in Lawrence County this year. In February, an Ironton man, Roger Marshall was found guilty of murdering three people but escaped the death penalty when the jury could not reach a verdict. He later was sentenced to two life terms plus 10 years.

In a separate matter, a pretrial conference was held for a woman accused of killing her estranged husband.

Megan Goff, 26, formerly of Hamilton Township, will wait another week, and Collier said it is likely the trial that was set for June 5 will be postponed.

Goff is accused of going to the Hamilton Township residence she once shared with her estranged husband, Bill Goff, and shooting him multiple times with two guns on March 18.

Also, an Ironton man accused of trying to run over another man with a car was acquitted of the charges against him late last week.

Herman Scott Bowen, 40, 11468 State Route 217, stood trial on a charge of felonious assault. His attorney, Warren Morford, said the jury deliberated just 45 minutes before returning the verdict of not guilty.

“I think the jury just did not believe the state’s witnesses,” Morford said.