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Jury trial begins for Ishpeming woman accused of murder, arson

By Annie Lippert 4 min read

MARQUETTE -- The jury trial for the State of Michigan v Julie Boxley began Tuesday in 25th Circuit Court in Marquette after the jury was selected Monday. Boxley is charged with felony murder and 1st degree arson and is accused of intentionally setting fire to the Ishpeming home of Glenn Andrews on March 5, 2023, who Boxley was living with at the time. Andrews died on March 19 at the University of Michigan Health's Trauma Burn Center.

The trial began with both the prosecuting and defending attorneys giving opening statements to the jury.

The prosecution, represented by Marquette's Chief Prosecuting Attorney Jenna Nelson, asked the jury to find Boxley guilty. Nelson's argument was based around inconsistencies in Boxley's story as it was told repeatedly to first responders and police detectives, the emergence of a new story in a recorded phone call spoken by Boxley, claims that the original story doesn't fit evidence and the existence of other fires allegedly set by Boxley.

One of the specific inconsistencies presented by Nelson was that initially Boxley claimed to law enforcement that Andrews had left the house in seconds after they detected the fire, while later she claimed that he had gone downstairs and was there for some time before she detected the fire.

The defense, headed by Marquette County Public Defender Patrick Crowley, asked the jury to find Boxley not guilty and claimed she is innocent. Their argument revolved around the lack of specific evidence that Boxley set the fire, or even that the fire was arson at all. They further claimed that Boxley's behavior after the fire and the inconsistencies in her story could be explained by Boxley being under the influence of alcohol and melatonin sleep aids and defense said that she had no apparent motive for setting the fire.

"Not only did Julie Boxley have nothing to gain from this fire, Julie Boxley lost everything," said Assistant Public Defender Jonathan Ballew.

The prosecution also brought forth several witnesses on Tuesday, including the physician who performed Andrews' autopsy, Andrews' neighbor to the rear, Andrews' across the street neighbor and Andrews' next door neighbor.

Dr. Randy Tashijan, medical examiner in Ann Arbor, was called to testify about the autopsy he performed on Andrews on March 21. He said that the cause of death appeared to be consistent with thermal injuries and smoke inhalation, while the manner of death was indeterminate.

Darren Fraser, Andrews' neighbor to the rear, was called to testify about his witnessing of the fire and to give detail about a video he took of the fire on his phone. Fraser testified that he was woken up around 3 a.m. on March 5, 2023 by the sounds of a woman calling for help, coughing and retching.

Sarah Tackman, Andrews' neighbor down and across the street, was called to testify about video captured from her Blink camera, which is attached to her front porch and automatically takes video when motion is detected. Tackman testified that her camera showed Andrews leaving his house and returning to his house before the fire began, and also shows the fire.

Seth Tackman, Andrews' next door neighbor, was called to testify about video captured from his Blink cameras, which were attached to the front of his home and to his sauna in the backyard. Tackman also testified about footage captured from a neighbor's camera. Tackman said that cameras showed the house fire and a figure that Tackman testified was Boxley moving down the street knocking on doors.

The trial, set to continue today, could last multiple weeks.

Annie Lippert can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 550. Her email address is alippert@miningjournal.net.

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