Timothy Boham

Background

Timothy Boham also known as Marcus Allen (born May 27, 1981) was a former adult film star.

In November 2002, Boham appeared on the cover of Freshmen magazine, which focused on 18-25 year-old gay men. In the annual survey in 2003, Marcus Allen was voted "Freshman of the Year" by a wide margin, and Marcus Allen appeared again on the cover in June 2003. This led to opportunities including with Falcon studios. With Falcon Entertainment, Boham appeared in a dozen adult movies under the name "Marcus Allen" in 2004 and 2005. Boham appeared in Channel I Releasing/Rascal Entertainment's "Never Been Touched" by Chi Chi LaRue. As Marcus Allen, Boham appeared on the cover of Mandate magazine in July 2006, apparently for All World's Video. Boham appeared on the cover of Playgirl Magazine's "campus hunks" issue (November 2006), and was advertised as "John" of Denver, Colorado, and as having a "smooth body and 'softer' side", p. 32-34.

The Advocate reported that Boham left porn about a year before the murder and went to live in Denver, eventually working for John Paul "J P" Kelso but only for about 10 days before failing to show up for his job.

Kelso was co-owner of a Denver debt recovery business called Professional Recovery Systems and was described as a philanthropist giving away hundreds of thousands of dollars to charities around the world. Kelso was openly gay. Co-workers at the debt recovery business described Tim as bright and that it seemed like he had his mind on something else.

The offence

A housekeeper found John Paul "J P" Kelso, 43, shot to death in the bathtub of his upscale Congress Park home on November 13, 2006.

The police named Boham as a suspect in the slaying.

During the preliminary hearing, Denver Detective Aaron Lopez testified that in a jailhouse interview in Arizona, where Boham was arrested Nov. 16, Boham said Kelso had asked him to go into the master bedroom to cuddle. Boham said he needed money for his girlfriend and had other plans, Lopez testified. Lopez also testified that Boham cut open the safe and found no money in it.

According to the Denver Post, Boham told his family that he killed Kelso because he believed that Kelso kept a lot of money in his household safe.

Court documents claimed that Boham had bipolar disorder and was prone to fits of rage, and that he told his mother that he had planned to use the money to go to South America with his girlfriend. Boham said his plan went awry when Kelso refused to open the safe, and there was a brief struggle during which he accidentally shot Kelso, according to the Post.

Lopez said that Boham confessed to both his sister and mother before leaving for Arizona. Before leaving, Boham repeatedly returned to Kelso's home to clean it up, in hopes that his fingerprints and DNA wouldn't be discovered.

At trial, prosecutors presented confessions made by Boham to his mother, sister and police, and Boham testified in his own defense. Boham told the jury that the victim had committed suicide. Boham also told the jury that he took his gun out of Kelso's hand, held it to his own head and pulled the trigger, but it misfired.

According to testimony, after Kelso died in his bedroom in the 3600 block of East Seventh Avenue in November 2006, Boham dragged the body into the bathtub, where he cleaned it of fingerprints. He gathered clothing, bedding, a shell casing and other items and threw them into Cherry Creek, where a construction crew found them later.

That night, Boham took his girlfriend to California Pizza Kitchen for dinner and to a show at Comedy Works. Later that night, he went to his mother's and told her he had shot someone. He telephoned police three days later from Arizona and confessed to shooting Kelso.

In a taped interview, Boham told police he had been paid by Kelso to have sex with him, that he was disgusted with Kelso, and decided to steal the $100,000 he thought was in Kelso's safe so that he could take his pregnant girlfriend to a beach somewhere. He bought a power saw and cut open the safe, but all that was inside were a few car titles.

On the stand, Boham said he had been possessed "by a spirit who told me to shoot" Kelso. He also said everything in the police video "was complete fantasy, to establish the craziness that I had flown off the handle and murdered J.P." He said the reality was that he and Kelso had devised a plan to make Kelso's suicide look like a robbery-murder so that Kelso's life insurance would pay out, which it wouldn't for a suicide.

The Denver Post also reported that a male escort convicted said he killed Kelso because he wanted the $100,000 to $400,000 Kelso kept in his household safe, according to court documents. Timothy J. Boham, 25, said he planned to use the money to go to South America with his girlfriend, and he told his mother and sister shortly after the shooting, the records alleged. Boham told his family that when he cut the safe open, it was empty and "so he had done this for nothing," according to a police affidavit. Boham said his plan went awry when Kelso refused to open the safe, and there was a brief struggle during which he accidentally shot Kelso, according to the records.

Investigation

Police called to Kelso's home, in the 3600 block of East Seventh Avenue, on Nov. 13 by one of his employees, who said he had found Kelso in the bathtub. Kelso had a gunshot wound to the head, police said.

Kelso was the founder of Professional Recovery Systems, a Denver collection agency.

Police said in the affidavit for Boham's arrest that friends and co-workers told them Kelso had, in the past, hired male escorts to whom he presented gifts. The co-workers believed that Kelso had developed a relationship with Boham, the affidavit said.

Police were able to track Boham with the help of his sister, Katherine, and his mother, Susan Stone, who called police after they had talked to Boham. They told investigators that Boham told them he was going to Mexico and gave officers Boham's cellphone number.

On Nov. 14, Denver police Detective Randy Denison received a phone call from Boham, who had called the detective at the urging of his mother. Court documents said that during the conversation, Boham admitted shooting Kelso during a robbery attempt.

Arrest and custody

Boham was arrested on November 16 at the U.S.-Mexico border in Lukeville, Arizona, after identifying himself as the subject of a murder warrant to Customs and Border officers. He was extradited to Colorado and held without bond.

A subdued Boham appeared in Denver County Court on Wednesday, where he waived the reading of the charges against him, which included first- degree murder and aggravated robbery. His preliminary hearing was set for the middle of January.

Trial

Boham's trial for murder started with jury selection on 1 Jun 2009.

The trial was before Denver District Judge Will Hood Jr.

The Denver Post reported that Boham was convicted by a nine-woman, three-man jury in Denver District Court of first-degree murder, after deliberation, felony murder and aggravated assault. The jury took less than five hours to convict Boham. Colorado law mandated that someone found guilty of first-degree murder must spend the rest of their life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Bonnie Benedetti declined to comment after the verdict.

Boham's lawyers — Amber St. Clair and Kristan Wheeler — claimed that their victim committed suicide. They tried to persuade the jury that the murder scene was merely a coverup for a suicide so that Kelso's life-insurance policy would pay out.

According to four days of testimony, Boham had a paid sexual encounter in late 2005 with Kelso, who owned Professional Recovery Systems, a debt-collection agency where Boham briefly worked twice. Boham said he and Kelso hung out together numerous times in the 11 months they knew each other.

According to testimony, Boham returned to the house several times to clean the body of fingerprints and to remove clothing, bedding, a shell casing and other material that was later found in Cherry Creek. He also stole Kelso's safe, bought a power saw and cut it open, believing it contained as much as $400,000. It was empty except for two car titles.

Boham went to his mother's house in Aurora and admitted the shooting to her and his sister.

In a taped interview, Boham confessed to police. His mother, sister and former girlfriend testified against him during the five-day trial.

On June 5, 2009, the Denver Post reported that Boham told the jury that a taped interview in which he talked about robbing the victim was a "fantasy." It reported that Boham told the jury he was innocent because the victim committed suicide. It also reported that Boham said he took his gun out of Kelso's hand, held it to his own head and pulled the trigger, but it misfired.

Sentencing

Boham was found guilty June 9, 2009 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Judge Will Hood Jr. handed down the sentence Tuesday.

Outcome

Boham remained sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Other details

Boham's current status summary included that he was a former gay porn actor.