PHOENIX, AZ (October 18, 2013) – A convicted felon on parole who tried to murder the parents of a minor he was having a sexual relationship with was sentenced by the Honorable Harriett Chavez today to a term of 45 years in the Arizona Department of Corrections. Bryan Jay Boesch (D.O.B. 12/10/1983) was charged with committing the offenses while on supervised release after serving five years in prison for Armed Robbery.
“This defendant revealed his predatory nature after having been previously incarcerated,” said Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery. “Today's sentence reflects the appropriate role of prison for someone like this: keeping the most dangerous and the most responsible for crime away from society,” he added.
At around 2:00 a.m. on Sunday, December 20, 2012, Glendale Police officers responded to a reported shooting in the 7500 block of West Palmaire Avenue. There they found Cynthia Behrends with a gunshot wound to the head and her husband, Robert Hedrick, who had been shot in the shoulder. A neighbor reported seeing Cynthia Behrends’ daughter, Kathleen, and a male subject leaving the area in a vehicle after the shooting. A short while later, the vehicle returned and witnesses pointed it out. Officers made a traffic stop and found Bryan Boesch and Kathleen Behrends in the vehicle along with a handgun.
When interviewed, Kathleen initially identified Bryan as a Good Samaritan who had come to her assistance after her parents had been shot by two men. After further questioning, she admitted to being an accessory to an attempt to murder her parents, adding that she hoped they were okay and hoped that they would forgive her. Kathleen further related that she had meet Boesch on a phone chat and told him she was 15 years old. They met a few weeks later and began a relationship.
Police learned that on the morning of the shooting, Cynthia Behrends discovered Boesch and her daughter having sex. After Kathleen confessed her relationship with Boesch to her mother, Cynthia said she wanted to do a background check on him and later threatened to call police. Kathleen later told investigators that she had conversations with Bryan that the only way they could be together would be if she ran away from her parents or if he shot them. She also claimed to have told Boesch that she was molested by her father and brother for years and that her mother did nothing to stop the abuse. Boesch told police that on the night of the shooting Kathleen unlocked the back door of the residence so he could enter. He claimed that Cynthia Behrends startled him and that he shot her and her husband in a moment of anger over their alleged mistreatment of Kathleen.
On January 7, 2013, Boesch was indicted on two counts of Attempt to Commit First Degree Murder, two counts of Aggravated Assault, one count of Sexual Conduct with a Minor and one count of Misconduct Involving Weapons. He subsequently waived his right to a trial and agreed to plead guilty to the two attempted murder counts and the count of Sexual Conduct with a Minor. His sentence includes two consecutive terms of 22.5 years for the attempted murder counts, and one concurrent term of 1.5 years for the Sexual Conduct count. He is also required to register as a sex offender. The case against Kathleen Behrends was resolved in Juvenile Court.
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