Prosecution continues to call witnesses in Boxley case
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MARQUETTE -- Thursday marked the third day of testimony in the Julie Boxley trial in the jury trial for the State of Michigan v Julie Boxley. 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. Andrews died on March 19 at the University of Michigan Health’s Trauma Burn Center.
Prosecution continued to call witnesses on Thursday, including Dr. Ryan Dick-Perez and Jack Hooker.
Dick-Perez was the emergency room physician at U.P. Health System Marquette who treated both Andrews and Boxley on March 5, 2023. He testified to the extent of both of their injuries.
Dick-Perez testified that Andrews had thermal injuries all the way down to his vocal cords on the inside of his mouth and throat, which he said is uncommon unless air is extremely hot, indicating that Andrews was likely in the same room as or in close proximity to the fire.
Dick-Perez further testified that Boxley had soot on her face and soot lines around her lips, but that there was no evidence of any smoke inhalation injury and that the wheezing she was experiencing that day could have been caused by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease unrelated to smoke inhalation. Additionally, he testified that Boxley's diabetes neuropathy could have contributed to Boxley not feeling the extent of the damage to her feet from walking barefoot on the snow.
Jack Hooker is the founder of the company Statewide Consulting and Investigations and investigates fires for insurance purposes. His testimony included details both about the damage caused by the fire and a recorded interview between him and Boxley which occurred March 8, 2023.
Hooker testified that he began the investigation on March 8, 2023, then continued it on March 13, once an excavator was brought in to remove snow and other items.
Hooker said that the heaviest fire damage was on the first floor at the front of the house and that the area with the heaviest damage is typically the place where the fire started. Video footage taken by neighbors also seems to show that the fire began at the front of the house. Hooker was unable to determine what caused the fire, due to the extent of the damage.
On March 8, 2023, Boxley arrived at the house while Hooker was performing his investigation and they spoke. Prosecuting Attorney Jenna Nelson played a recording of that conversation in full, which Hooker had provided. In the recording, Boxley can be heard saying that there were no smoke alarms in the house, but that many of the outlets were connected to extension cords and that she had noticed those cords occasionally getting hot while in use. She also said that there had been a bag of Match Light charcoal briquettes inside the front door.
In the recording, Boxley also gave an account of the events of March 5, 2023. She could be heard saying that Andrews had woken up and smelled smoke, but that she had not immediately gotten up due to being "dazed" due to taking melatonin. She said that Andrews was out of the house "in seconds" and that she escaped the house by jumping from a second story window onto the roof of a cellar entrance and onto a back deck. Andrews was lying on that deck, injured, so Boxley "flung the gate aside" to look for help.
Boxley can also be heard saying in the recording that she had no renter's insurance and that she lost a china hutch, thousands of dollars worth of jewelry and $1,400 in cash in the fire and that 12 or 13 years prior, she had experienced another fire at the home of her then-boyfriend due to a malfunctioning water heater.
After the recordings had finished, Nelson asked Hooker further questions about the results of his investigation.
Hooker testified that, when he visited the house again after speaking to Boxley, he noted that the snow on the roof of the cellar, where Boxley had said she had jumped to, was completely undisturbed and said that no snow had fallen between the house fire and the day he observed the undisturbed snow. He also testified that the area of the deck she said she had jumped onto had items such as bikes and lawn chairs on it.
Hooker further testified that, after seeing images of Andrews' injuries, he determined that "he did not receive those injuries in the manner Julie Boxley explained to me."
Hooker testified that Boxley had said Andrews had left the house quite quickly, via the back door, but Andrews' burns were severe and all on the front of his body, which Hooker said indicated that Andrews had to have been very close to the fire before escaping. Hooker testified that, if Boxley's story had been true, Andrews had to have either had a fire on his body, or there had to have been a second fire not at the front of the house.
"If (Boxley's) story was accurate, I would expect no injuries," testified Hooker.
As to whether the fire had been accidental or a result of arson, Hooker testified that there was "no evidence to point either way."
The trial is expected to last multiple weeks.
Annie Lippert can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 550. Her email address is alippert@miningjournal.net.