Mirinda Boob is a Pennsylvania woman convicted in 2011 of arranging the murder of her husband, Samuel Boob, who was shot to death in the garage of their Centre Hall home on August 23, 2009. The Mirinda Boob murder case ended with her serving life in prison plus at least 20 additional years at the State Correctional Institution at Muncy, alongside a matching sentence for the man she recruited to pull the trigger, Ronald Lee Heichel. She has exhausted all of her state appeals. 1Centre Daily Times. Fatal Vows Episode Features 2009 Centre County Murder
What Happened in the Garage
Samuel Boob was 29, living with Mirinda and their four children on Tusseyville Road in Potter Township, Centre County. On the morning of August 23, 2009, Mirinda and Heichel exchanged text messages coordinating a plan to lure Samuel into the couple’s garage. Heichel, also 29 and from the Bellefonte area, had a coworker from the Grange Fair named Kermit Butts drive him to the property, where he hid inside. When Mirinda brought Samuel into the garage, Heichel shot him twice at close range with Samuel’s own shotgun. 2Lock Haven Express. Triggerman in Boob Murder Turned Away From Effort at New Trial
Butts drove Heichel away in a company truck belonging to Garbrick’s. 3Philadelphia Inquirer. Butts Arrest in Boob Case Among Odd Pa. News Reports Mirinda then called 911, pretending to have found her husband’s body and feigning shock. 2Lock Haven Express. Triggerman in Boob Murder Turned Away From Effort at New Trial
The Motive and the Plot
Prosecutors said Mirinda Boob had been looking for someone willing to kill her husband since at least 2008. Before Heichel, she had solicited two other men she was having extramarital affairs with, but neither followed through. Weeks before the killing, she met Heichel at a Centre Hall restaurant called Snappy’s while he was working the nearby Grange Fair, and the two began a romantic relationship. Trial testimony established that she wanted Samuel’s life insurance money to start a new life. 2Lock Haven Express. Triggerman in Boob Murder Turned Away From Effort at New Trial
How the Investigation Unraveled the Plan
Investigators quickly recovered the text messages between Mirinda and Heichel that mapped out the killing. Police alleged Mirinda had fed Heichel specific information about Samuel’s whereabouts and movements, and that text evidence became the backbone of the conspiracy case. 4NBC News. Central Pa. Woman Accused of Conspiring to Kill Husband Court papers established that Mirinda and Heichel had been lovers. 3Philadelphia Inquirer. Butts Arrest in Boob Case Among Odd Pa. News Reports
Heichel was charged with first-degree murder. Mirinda was charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and held on $2 million bail. 4NBC News. Central Pa. Woman Accused of Conspiring to Kill Husband Butts, 26, of Madisonburg, was charged with aggravated assault and hindering apprehension or prosecution; his attorney later said Heichel had threatened to kill Butts if he refused to drive. 5Vindy Archives. Man Admits Aiding Suspects in Killing In October 2009, Centre County District Attorney Michael Madeira announced he would not seek the death penalty against Mirinda or Heichel, citing insufficient evidence of aggravating circumstances. 6Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Prosecutors Won’t Seek Death Penalty in Bellefonte Slaying
Convictions and Sentences
Mirinda Boob was tried in Centre County in 2011 and convicted of first-degree murder, third-degree murder, criminal conspiracy to commit criminal homicide, and criminal conspiracy to commit aggravated assault. She was sentenced to life in prison plus at least 20 additional years. The prosecution was led by District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller. 7Lock Haven Express. Mirinda Boob’s Claim Denied Without Hearing
Ronald Heichel was convicted of first-degree murder, third-degree murder, and conspiracy to commit criminal homicide, and received the same sentence of life plus at least 20 years. 1Centre Daily Times. Fatal Vows Episode Features 2009 Centre County Murder Kermit Butts pleaded guilty in May 2011 to hindering prosecution and was sentenced to at least 11 months in prison. 5Vindy Archives. Man Admits Aiding Suspects in Killing
Appeals Denied
The direct appeals filed by Mirinda Boob and Ronald Heichel were denied by the Pennsylvania Superior Court and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in the fall of 2012. 2Lock Haven Express. Triggerman in Boob Murder Turned Away From Effort at New Trial
Mirinda then filed a petition under Pennsylvania’s Post Conviction Relief Act, arguing ineffective assistance of counsel and claiming her attorney had failed to enforce what she described as a plea agreement. Centre County Judge Pamela Ruest denied the petition without a hearing on September 1, 2014, concluding that no official plea agreement existed. 7Lock Haven Express. Mirinda Boob’s Claim Denied Without Hearing
Heichel’s own PCRA petition argued that his trial attorney had been ineffective for failing to investigate a possible alternative shooter referenced in police reports. Centre County Judge Jonathan D. Grine denied it on September 21, 2015, ruling that pointing to a possible alternative trial strategy did not amount to ineffective assistance. 2Lock Haven Express. Triggerman in Boob Murder Turned Away From Effort at New Trial
Where She Is Now
Mirinda Boob remains incarcerated at the State Correctional Institution at Muncy in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. Ronald Heichel is serving his life sentence at the State Correctional Institution at Mahanoy. 1Centre Daily Times. Fatal Vows Episode Features 2009 Centre County Murder
Samuel Boob left behind four children who ranged in age from six months to 10 years old when he was killed. 4NBC News. Central Pa. Woman Accused of Conspiring to Kill Husband His parents, Mark and Marlene Heintzelman, took a leading role in supporting them.