A 3-judge panel is currently weighing the fate of 27-year old Bailey Boswell, convicted in the kidnap, murder, and dismemberment of a Lincoln clerk. A 3-day hearing was held last week on whether Boswell will be sentenced to death or life in prison without parole for the 2017 death of 24-year old Syndey Loofe.
Boswell and her boyfriend, 54-year old Aubrey Trail, were both convicted of 1st-degree murder in separate trials. A similar 3-judge panel last month sentenced Trail to death while Boswell would become Nebraska’s first female death row inmate with a similar result. No decision is expected for several weeks.
The mother of a 5-year old girl, Boswell asked her judges last week for mercy, saying “for my daughter’s sake, please don’t take my life. Her plea came after a psychologist hired by her defense team testified that she was abused and trafficked for sex by a former boyfriend.
Dr. Kirk Newring, testified that Boswell met Trail through an online ad for massages after being trafficked by her abusive former boyfriend. Newring said she showed signs of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder that made her vulnerable to Trail’s influence.
Prosecutors countered it was a last-minute ploy by Boswell to avoid execution. While cross-examining Newring, Assistant Attorney General Doug Warner suggested that the plan was for Boswell to “put all the blame” on Trail, who has made the came since his trial.
Investigators have said Boswell and Trail worked together to recruit young women for sex while also looking for one to kill. They found Loofe through a dating app and she disappeared after going out on a date with Boswell. Her body was found weeks later in 14 pieces, scattered in garbage bags along rural roads.