The Murder of Rhonda Boggs
For this case I watched an episode of On the Case with Paula Zahn. It’s season 6 episode 2, titled ‘Innocent Witness.’
A 38 year old mom is killed, and it’s believed that her 2 year old daughter witnessed the crime.
Background
Rhonda Boggs
Rhonda Bogg lived with her husband Dave, and their young daughter in Pataskala, Ohio. Rhonda’s family said that she had a big heart, and loved her family and friends.
The Murder
On April 29, 2002, Rhonda didn’t show up to her job at Hamilton Home Products. Her co-worker Gary Pawlowski said Rhonda was always on time, and he started to get very nervous when she never arrived. He decided to drive her usual route, looking for any signs of her car. He said he eventually found her car, still in her driveway of her home.
Gary said he knocked on the door, but there was no answer. Then, he saw that the drapes started to move. It was Rhonda’s young daughter, who was crying and looked scared. Gary said it broke his heart, and told her he was there to help her and her mom. He said it took her a few minutes to open the door, but was eventually able to open it for him.
Gary said that the young girl pointed towards the kitchen. Rhonda was found dead, laying face down in a pool of blood. There was blood on the kitchen cabinets and dried blood in the living room. Gary called the police.
Rhonda and her daughter
The Investigation
The police arrived soon after the call. Chris Forshey, the Chief of Police, said that it was apparent that Rhonda had puncture wounds to her head and neck area. The murder weapon, a steak knife, was found underneath Rhonda’s body, it was discovered when the coroner arrived. Rhonda had actually been stabbed a total of 19 times.
There was no sign of forced entry, but it was clear that the house had been ransacked. Rhonda’s purse had been dumped on the kitchen counter, but the police didn’t know what was taken. There was blood spatter in the kitchen, and the police believed Rhonda tried to fight off her attacker. Bloody shoe prints were found in the living room, and the prints were photographed and processed.
Kim Davis, Rhonda’s sister, received a call from their dad about what happened to her. Kim said she raced to Rhonda’s home. The police asked her who would want to hurt Rhonda, and she said she wasn’t sure. Kim said Rhonda didn’t have any enemies.
Rhonda’s husband Dave Boggs was in jail at the time of the murder, for not paying child support to another woman. Kim said that Rhonda and Dave didn’t have a good marriage, and that Dave enjoyed partying and playing his music.
Uncle Nick
Rhonda’s family was concerned with what her young daughter had seen. The young girl was interviewed by social workers, and during her interview she was very repetitive in her statements. She told the social workers that “uncle Nick hurt mommy.”
Uncle Nick was 30 year old Nick Robinson, Dave’s cousin. Nick and Dave often went out to party together, and would work odd jobs together. Nick said that he was the biggest fan of Dave’s band, which was called Ace is High.
Nick said he was hungover on the day that Rhonda’s body was found. He said he was at home, and found out about her death from the news. Nick said he decided to go over to Rhonda’s, and was pulled over on the way. Nick said that he was handcuffed, frisked, and that the police searched his vehicle. Nick was then driven back to his home, and waited in the car while they interviewed his wife Debbie.
Debbie said that police asked her about a possible relationship between Rhonda and Nick. Debbie said there was no way, and knew that her husband had been very intoxicated the night before. She told the police that she and Nick fought the whole night, and Nick fell asleep on the couch when he came home.
Debbie allowed the police to search their home. They collected the shirt that Nick wore the night before, it was a white T-shirt, with a NASCAR logo. Debbie asked the police if they needed to hire a lawyer, and they said no. They told Debbie that Nick would be home soon. Debbie said she believed them, but that it was a mistake.
A “Confession”
Nick voluntarily agreed to be questioned at the station. They asked him to go through his story from the previous day and night. Nick said he went to a golf outing during the day, and spent all day drinking. He also admitted that he did cocaine, had about 20 beers and several shots. He then said he stupidly drove home, and passed out on his couch around 1am.
Nick also agreed to take a polygraph test, but the police told him he failed it. Nick kept denying that he killed Rhonda, but before he knew it, he ended up confessing. He said he called Rhonda around 11pm that night, and drove over to her house. He said he made advances at her, and she pulled a knife out. Nick said he must have grabbed the knife, and stabbed her. His confession didn’t match the evidence, but the police believed he did it.
At 5am, Debbie received a call from Nick. He told her he was being booked for Rhonda’s murder. Debbie asked him what happened, and that Nick said he must have done it, if that’s what the police were telling him.
Two days after the murder, Nick Robinson was charged with aggravated murder. He was facing a possible death sentence.
Innocent or Guilty?
After Nick was charged with murder, those closest to him turned against him. Dave said that Nick planned to kill Rhonda, and that he deserved the death penalty. The only person that stood by Nick, was his wife Debbie. Nick’s bond was set at $1 million, and Nick asked Debbie to hire an attorney.
Diane Menashe was hired to be Nick’s defense attorney, and she wasn’t convinced that Nick was innocent. They just couldn’t get passed his confession.
Diane did start to believe that Nick was innocent, as time went on. The defense team hired Matt Sauer, a private investigator. Matt Sauer’s job was to go to all of the places that Nick had been to the day and night of the murder. He tracked down witnesses from the golf outing, and from both bars that Nick was at. The witnesses said that Nick was at the first bar until 10pm. He then drove to another bar called the Fairview Inn, where several more witnesses were interviewed. The witnesses said he was at the bar from 11pm, until about 12:30am. These stories contradicted what Nick said about calling Rhonda and then going to her home.
Nick’s phone records proved where he was as well. He didn’t call Rhonda, and only called his wife, when they were fighting. Nick was interviewed in this episode, and he said he was coerced by the police. He said after he failed the polygraph test, the police preyed on his fear.
Rhonda’s credit cards also proved that Nick wasn’t the killer. Her credit cards were used during the time when Nick was in jail. The defense needed to find the real killer to free Nick.
A New Suspect
The prosecution team also believed Nick was innocent, and they called the Ohio Bureau of Investigation. Gregg Costas, a special agent with the bureau, said he was caught in the middle of the police and prosecution team. The police still believed that Nick was the killer.
Gregg Costas said he had to go through various suspects, to try to eliminate them. While he was searching, he found a new suspect, a 35 year old guitarist named Chris Williams. Chris was in Dave’s band, and at one time they had been friends.
Chris was addicted to crack, and a few years before the murder, he had actually broken into the Boggs’ residence to steal guitars from Dave. He had pawned the guitars to buy drugs. The robbery and murder had similarities, and Chris had never been looked at during the original investigation.
Another band member named Bobby Sisco came forward and said that Chris showed up at his home on the night of the murder. He said Chris was high, jittery and out of his mind. Chris was supposed to be living in a halfway house, but fled in his dad’s car.
Gregg Costas now wanted to find the vehicle and test it. He had no idea that finding that car was going to break the case wide open.
The Diamond Earring
The day after the murder, Chris had sold his dad’s car. He sold it to a woman named Letisha. Gregg interviewed Letisha, who said that Chris sold the car to her for $600. Letisha told Gregg that Rhonda’s purse was in the car, and that she saw her ID card. Gregg asked her why she didn’t tell the police. Letisha said she didn’t want to get involved, and she saw that an arrest had been made.
Letisha dropped one more bombshell. She said she kept a diamond earring, but eventually gave it to Matt Sauer, who was also working the case. Gregg called the defense team, who agreed to work together, if they could be the one to show the earring to Kim Davis. Gregg agreed.
Kim agreed to a meeting with the defense team, and she was shocked when she saw the earring. Kim said that those earrings had been made for Rhonda, from one of her old wedding rings. She broke down, and didn’t know why Nick had confessed to killing Rhonda.
The case against Nick completely fell apart. His t-shirt was tested, and there was no blood or DNA found on the shirt. Nick’s DNA was also excluded when the murder weapon was tested, but Chris Williams’ DNA was found on the knife.
Nick was eventually released around a year after his arrest. The charges weren’t actually dropped until 2 years after the murder.
Justice For Rhonda
Chris was brought in for questioning. He told the police that he was at Rhonda’s that night, but didn’t kill her. He said that he found Rhonda dead, and didn’t call the police.
Chris Williams was charged with murder. He was also charged with aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, and escape. The prosecution was afraid that the jury would focus on Nick’s confession, but they hoped that the jury would focus more on the evidence against Chris.
Chris Forshey, the Chief of Police, testified for Chris’ defense. He said that he still believed that Nick killed Rhonda.
Chris Williams also testified. He said the reason for his DNA being on the knife was he picked it up after finding Rhonda dead.
After five days of testimony, the jury went into deliberation. They only deliberated for three hours, and found Chris Williams guilty of aggravated murder. He was sentenced to 48 years to life in prison.
Chris Williams
Other
Nick Robinson said there are many people that still doubt him, especially after his confession. He filed a $3 million lawsuit against the police department. The lawsuit was settled out of court.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I really hate to say anything about police in any investigation or crime show, but the police didn’t investigate this case well at all. Thank god for the prosecution, defense and BCI for looking into this. I believe that Nick would still be rotting in prison if other people hadn’t gotten involved.
Chris Williams is a piece of shit. He ruined the lives of all of Rhonda’s loved ones, especially her daughter. I also think he ruined Nick’s life. Nick was the one who confessed to something he didn’t do, but it never would have happened if Chris hadn’t killed Rhonda. Rhonda was completely innocent and her chance to be a mom was taken away too.
Sources
https://thecinemaholic.com/who-killed-rhonda-boggs-where-are-nick-robinson-and-chris-williams-now/
https://www.columbusmonthly.com/article/20140206/news/302068197?template=ampart
http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/5/2006/2006-Ohio-1381.pdf
