OLIVE TWP., MI (WHTC-AM/FM, May 9, 2023) – As of now, a high profile murder case from two decades ago in Zeeland won’t be resurrected.
On April 26th, Ottawa County Circuit Court Judge Karen Miedema dismissed a motion by the University of Michigan Innocence Clinic for a vacating of a guilty verdict and a new trial for Karen Boes. She was the mother who allegedly killed her 14-year-old daughter Robin on June 30, 2002, by soaking the hallway outside of her daughter’s bedroom with gasoline and then setting a fire while the girl slept.
Karen Boes has maintained her innocence in the matter, and the Clinic took up the case based on the improvements in fire science, as well as claims of false confessions the accused had made at the time of the incident. County Prosecutor Lee Fisher last fall had asked the county board for $141,000 to pay for retaining an expert witness firm to refute the Clinic’s claims.
Fisher added during Tuesday’s biweekly Ottawa County Board meeting that the Clinic may appeal Miedema’s decision to the state Court of Appeals and possibly the state Supreme Court, and that extra expenses may be necessary. Boes is currently serving a life sentence in state prison.
