Leo Boatman

Case record: Leo Boatman

Background

Leo Boatman was described by the Marion County sheriff as a "would-be serial killer" who would have continued killing.

In the background, Ron Akers, a professor of criminology and sociology at the University of Florida, said most serial killers have been white males in their late 20s or 30s who target strangers near their homes or places of work. Psychologist Jack Apsche, who published "Probing the Mind of a Serial Killer" in 1993, said that most serial killers have come from dysfunctional backgrounds involving sexual or physical abuse, drugs or alcoholism. Apsche also said serial killers are isolated and often resentful toward a society that has shut them out. Apsche said: "Serial murderers see themselves as dominant, controlling and powerful figures," and added: "They hold the power of life and death, and in their own eyes, they perceive themselves as God."

In a Wednesday interview, Boatman's 38-year-old brother, Vick Boatman, said that the alleged shooter had had psychiatric problems in the past. Vick Boatman shared a mobile home in Largo with his younger brother and said 19-year-old Leo was supposed to be on medication but had stopped taking it.

The offence

Leo Boatman was accused of killing two Santa Fe Community College students, Amber Marie Peck and John Parker.

Boatman was described as the execution-style shooter of Peck and Parker. Prosecutors said he fatally shot Amber Peck and John Parker with an AK-47 in January 2006 in the Ocala National Forest in Ocala.

The bodies of Amber Peck and John Parker were found by family members on Jan. 7 near Hidden Pond in the Juniper Springs Wilderness area of the Ocala National Forest.

During the investigation, Boatman was described as having taken a bus from Largo to a location near the Ocala National Forest with a stolen high-powered assault rifle in his possession. Investigators said Boatman was apparently searching in the woods for someone to kill and stumbled upon Peck and Parker.

Boatman later told detectives he'd gone deep in the forest for one reason: to kill someone for no other reason than sport.

Investigation

Investigators said Boatman tried to get the stolen murder weapon back to the owner as soon as he got back home from the Ocala National Forest on Jan. 5, according to investigators' reports. Investigators also said Boatman tried to sell the AK-47 before the slayings, and friends told investigators.

Boatman, 19, and his uncle Victor Boatman, 38, had been holding the unloaded AK-47 high-powered rifle for their friend Lucas Merryfield when Leo ran off with it to the Ocala National Forest on Jan. 3, the same day Amber Marie Peck and John Parker went camping there, according to Marion County's sheriff's reports released Tuesday. Victor Boatman told detectives the next time he saw Leo or the assault rifle was on Jan. 5. Victor told officials Leo walked into the mobile home the two were sharing with a "foul body odor" and shouted "I've got Luke's gun, tell him to come get it," before pulling out the rifle with a loaded magazine.

Merryfield picked up the semi-automatic assault rifle from the pair's home the next day, the same day Leo Boatman put a .22-caliber rifle with a scope on layaway, according to detectives.

Investigators received a tip from motorist Joey Tierney. Tierney told officials that on Jan. 4 he picked up a man near the murder scene carrying a blue nylon bag and gave him a ride to a convenience store and a motel. Tierney said the hitchhiker told him he had a gun in the bag, but he didn't see it.

According to the investigation reports, law enforcement officials' first interview with Leo Boatman was about 8:20 a.m. on Jan. 9 at his mobile home in Largo. Boatman showed investigators the blue nylon bag containing a pellet gun while he chatted freely about his activities in the days surrounding the murders, and he said he went to the forest on a camping trip to relax. He told investigators he took marijuana with him.

The reports said officials had initially believed the tip from Tierney "was of no value" after seeing the pellet gun, but later word came from a detective that had been visiting Leo's sister, Rosezilla Boatman, in Clearwater. Rosezilla Boatman told investigators Leo had been accused recently of stealing an AK-47 from Merryfield.

Detectives immediately transported Leo and Victor to the Largo Police Department. Leo kept talking at the station and started to clam up after law enforcement officials told him they had evidence he had been in possession of an AK-47.

The investigation reports said Leo had actually purchased the pellet gun after he came back from the camping trip. Officials then charged Leo with stealing the AK-47 and placed him in the Pinellas County Jail. The investigation reports said ballistics tests tied the weapon to the murder. Murder charges were filed against him later that night in Marion County, and he was picked up by officials there.

Crime scene technicians found several spent shell casings. Capt. Dennis Strow said these can be very valuable in linking a weapon to a crime scene and that they contain what technicians call highly individualized "tool marks," from the ejector and on the primer. At about 5 p.m. on Jan. 10, the crime lab called and said: "That's the gun," Strow said.

Sheriff Ed Dean ordered that the family be briefed, as well as the officers who worked on the case, before the news conference. Authorities told officers: "You've worked your butts off," they were told, "this is what we've got." By 7:30 p.m., the media were briefed.

Additional details included that Victor said Leo dated a girl who worked at Hooters in Largo, where the suspect also worked as kitchen help. Victor also said Leo was dating a stripper. Victor said Leo went fishing the day after he arrived back in Largo and put a .22 rifle on layaway.

Arrest

Leo Boatman was arrested late Tuesday on suspicion that he traveled to the Ocala National Forest looking for someone to kill and eventually shot two hikers.

Marion County Sheriff's Office said Boatman was charged with two counts of first degree murder in the shooting deaths of Amber Peck and John Parker, both 26. The Marion County Sheriff's Office said Boatman was apparently searching in the woods for someone to kill and stumbled upon Peck and Parker.

Marion County Sheriff Ed Dean said late Tuesday: "The killer is Leo Boatman," and added: "This killer in my opinion is a would-be serial killer." Police said the break in the case came from Joe Tierney, 20, who picked up Boatman after the slayings and said he dropped him off at a motel. Tierney said: "The devil was in my front seat."

Trial

Boatman was accused of facing two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Amber Peck and John Parker. Officials said he changed his plea to avoid the death penalty after facing two counts of first-degree murder.

On July 30, 2007, Leo Boatman entered a guilty plea to his charges in Marion County and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Boatman made the following statement:

"There's nothing I can say that justifies what I did. And I can't offer an explanation because there is none. All I can offer is my sincere apologies,"

Sentencing

Boatman received a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole on July 30, 2007.

Appeals

No appeal information was included.

Outcome

Authorities planned to charge Leo Boatman with the beating death of his former cellmate at Charlotte Correctional Institution. Boatman was scheduled to have his first appearance hearing in Charlotte County, and the warrant would be served that date.

The Charlotte County State Attorney's Office confirmed the plan to charge Boatman with the beating death of his former cellmate at Charlotte Correctional Institution.

The Florida Department of Corrections disclosed that Boatman had been in an altercation with Rick A. Morris on Aug. 18, 2010. According to Morris' aunt, Cindy Morris, Rick Morris suffered severe brain damage and had been on life support for a month.

Cindy Morris questioned decisions that led to her nephew's release from a six-month stay in a mental institution. She said it was following his return home that he fatally shot her brother and sister-in-law.

Rick Morris had been housed with Boatman at the Charlotte C.I. Charlotte Correctional Institution in Punta Gorda, and Rick A. Morris was described as a 28-year-old Panama City man also serving a life sentence for the murder of his parents.

It was stated that Rick Morris was now buried beside his parents.

Boatman was born in a Florida mental institution and was transferred to Florida State Prison in Starke after the Aug. 18, 2010 incident.

Samantha Syoen, public information officer for the Charlotte County State Attorney's Office, said Florida DOC officials presented the warrant to the State Attorney's Office on Jan. 7, and that Boatman would have to be transported for his first appearance because he was already in prison for life.

Florida DOC spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said an administrative investigation into the fatal beating was still in progress by prison officials.

Boatman pleaded guilty in relation to his Ocala slayings, and he was serving two life sentences for fatally shooting Santa Fe College students Amber Peck and John Parker with an AK-47 in January 2006 in Ocala National Forest.

Aftermath

Vicky Parker, mother of victim John Parker, said:

"When things like this happen, the person who commits the crime becomes the celebrity and the ones who die and are left behind are forgotten about,"

David Peck, father of victim Amber Peck, said:

"I can't understand first of all, why somebody would look at her and take her life,"

Other details

Jail incidents and suicide precautions

On Aug. 30, 2006, Marion County Jail guards investigated how an inmate got a piece of metal used to craft a knife. The article said Leo Boatman told another inmate that he was planning to kill deputies and guards if he got the death penalty in a case where he was accused of killing two college students at a national park. Authorities took the shank on Aug. 21 after an inmate alerted them.

Boatman made a handle of mashed toilet paper and dried-up toothpaste to hold a six- or seven-inch blade, and authorities believed he got the piece of metal from a filing cabinet.

In February, Boatman got a hold of disposable razors and attempted suicide twice, but his injuries were not life-threatening.

On March 11, 2006, the man charged with killing two campers in the Ocala National Forest complained about being chained "up like a dog" at the Marion County Jail. In a letter addressed to the Star-Banner, Leo Lance Boatman referred to being chained by all fours as "torture" and compared himself to a prisoner in Iraq. He wrote a complaint that he would rather be sentenced to death than be chained up like a dog.

The letter read in part:

"My name is Leo Boatman and I am an inmate in the Marion County Jail. Since being here I have been denied the rights and privileges of the other inmates. Against my will I have been placed on suicide precaution even though the head doctor cleared me the jail has kept me on. Twice I have seen doctors with years of experience that think I should not be on S.P. and that I am no harm to myself. This was before and after my recent incident. For the past two weeks I have been chained to the bed in the middle of a dorm. Four of which I spent four pointed to a bed. I offered no resistance. They won't allow me to call my family or use the law library which is very important because of the seriousness of my case. And for some strange reason my friends and family have denied getting any of the letters I've wrote them. I eat and sleep in chains. At night I lay awake because of a padlock that is chained in the middle of my back. I'm constantly in a belly chain which my hands are also chained to. My leg is chained to a bed and I have less room to move around than a dog who is chained up in its own back yard. If I placed someone on a dog leash it would be a civil rights violation, yet there is no difference. In Iraq we made a big stink about inmates who were put on dog leashes. Well we do it in our own country because they do it to me. They say its for my safety yet they place me with the jails' most violent offenders with no way to protect myself if someone wants to attack me because of my restraints. The higher ups are creating tension between me and inmates who I would otherwise have no problem with. Because of me they say the other inmates can not shave of have regular rotations. The only explanation I can think of is they must want to provoke into attacking me while I am strapped up and defenseless. Why they want to do this would be reasons for anywhere to personal feelings about my case to retaliation for the recent incident. All I know is even the guard who works with me on a daily basis see no reason for my status but can do nothing because of the higher ups who normally don't get involved with the one on one dealings with inmates but have seen fit to be the only ones who make the decisions regarding me. The jail might say its for my safety but I'm not trying to harm myself even though I have plenty of opportunities. They justified the restraints by saying they had to protect the staples in my arm, yet they were removed two days ago and still nothing changed. Some people say this is what I deserve but let me remind you I have yet to be found guilty of anything even if the media painted a different story. Should we change the justice system to punish people before being found guilty? What happened to innocent until being found guilty, and since when is the sheriff my judge and allowed to sentence me? Shoot we should just cut the courts out of the whole thing and allow the majors and up to decide what to do with people. It's already obvious to me I have been found guilty so instead of drawing out the torture why don't you just send me to death row and get it over with. Death row is starting to sound better than here and I would be willing to get there if it's my only other option than staying here. Hopefully this letter will reach you. I've made copies and somehow you will get one. If conditions stay the same I realize I will not get a fair trail an will just request the State Attorney does he's planning. I would rather be sentenced to death than be chained up like a dog for the rest of my life, forced to eat like one with my hands and wear a womans' dress. Leo Boatman Marion County Jail"

Officials said Boatman was placed in a "bubble" and that he tried to commit suicide on Feb. 11 by cutting his right wrist and mouth with a contraband razor. Maj. Paul Laxton said the jail took him from a four-pointed position before the letter was written, but he still remained chained by the belly and legs, and officials were still keeping watch.

Capt. Jerry Craig said the restrictive restraints were used and said the approach prevented him from pulling out staples and using them as a weapon. Craig said he would try to do anything to get out of jail, including an attempt at escape or death. Craig said: "We're not going to give him an opportunity to roam free and build friendships with people to try and escape," and said: "We're not going to give him an opportunity to roam free and build friendships with people to try and escape," (as quoted).

Boatman was made to wear a suicide gown made out of quilted pieces of fabric, which made it difficult to rip off pieces and make nooses. Craig said: "We wanted to prevent him from hurting himself or anyone else,".

Laxton said Boatman received 12 staples to his arm to close up the wound from the razor blade. Laxton said a barber is usually brought in when inmates like Boatman require a shave, such as for a court appearance. The article said policies for issuing blades changed after Boatman got the contraband razor from another inmate.

The letter also included that Boatman stated:

"Death row is starting to sound better than staying here."

Boatman stated:

"In Iraq, we made a big stink about inmates who were put on dog leashes. Well we do it in our own country because they do it to me."

Boatman stated:

"the higher ups are creating tension between me and inmates who I would otherwise have no problem with,"

and:

"Because of me they say the other inmates can't shave of have regular rotations."

In the letter, he stated:

"the jail might say its for my safety but I'm not trying to harm myself even though I have plenty of opportunities."

Officials also said Boatman refused to be interviewed by the Star-Banner. The jail screens Boatman's visitor list but he received visitors, including a family member.

Transfer after altercation with cellmate

After the altercation on Aug. 18, 2010, Boatman was transferred to Florida State Prison in Starke after the incident.