Bailey Boswell
A Nebraska woman will spend the rest of her life behind bars for the horrific abduction, torture, murder, and dismemberment of a female store clerk whom she met on Tinder. A three judge panel on Monday handed down a life sentence to Bailey Boswell, 26, after she was convicted of first-degree murder in the 2017 slaying of Sydney Loofe, prosecutors said.
Boswell nearly became the first woman in state history to sentenced to death when two out of three judges ruled that Loofe’s murder met the “exceptional depravity” standard required to send a convict to death row. However, Nebraska law mandates that all three judges unanimously find that the state had met its burden of proof to warrant Boswell’s death.
“The murder was coldly calculated, Boswell relished the murder, there was needless mutilation of the body, the murder was senseless, and Sydney Loofe was a helpless victim,” presiding District Court Judge Vicky Johnson said during Monday’s sentencing hearing, the Omaha World-Herald reported. “Ms. Loofe was completely harmless and her murder was completely unnecessary.”
Prosecutors said Boswell on Nov. 15, 2017 lured the 24-year-old store clerk to the apartment of her then-boyfriend Aubrey Trail, 54, where they reportedly drank her blood and strangled her to death with an electric cord.
Using a hacksaw, tinsnips, and a utility knife reportedly purchased from Home Depot just a few hours before Loofe was viciously murdered, Boswell and Trail dismembered the girl’s body—chopping her up and separating the remains into 14 black plastic garbage bags which they scattered along rural gravel roads in Clay County, about an hour drive from Trail’s apartment.
Most of Loofe’s remains were discovered on Dec. 4 along with multiple sex toys, a dog leash, and a plastic sauna suit, per the World-Herald. Some of her body parts and several organs, including her heart, were reportedly never found.
“Ms. Loofe was needlessly mutilated by Trail and Boswell as part of the plan to satisfy her sexual desire. The mutilation was not done as an afterthought to hide the body,” Judge Johnson reportedly said.
Trail was also convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder earlier this year and sentenced to death. Prosecutors in both murder trials presented evidence that reportedly showed Boswell and Trail planning other abductions and murders and argued that the pair were sexually aroused by torturing and killing helpless victims.
There was also a strange occult aspect permeated Loofe’s murder.
During Boswell’s trial, three witnesses told jurors that both murderers often spoke of “gaining powers” by killing innocent people. They also talked about producing and profiting from a video in which a person was tortured before being killed, one witness said.
Judge Johnson along with Judge Darla Ideus voted in favor of sentencing Boswell to death. The lone holdout was Judge Peter Batailon, who said that he “could not find beyond a reasonable doubt that the state of Nebraska met its burden of proof as to this aggravating circumstance.”
Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson, who pushed for the death penalty, was brief in his post-sentencing remarks.
“Throughout the criminal justice process, Sydney’s family has persevered with dignity. With the criminal cases coming to a close and the anniversary of her death approaching, our thoughts are with the Loofe family during this difficult time,” said Peterson. “We appreciate the very challenging work performed by the jury in this matter. I also want to thank all of the important law enforcement agencies that collaborated in developing the evidence necessary to result in this murder conviction and sentence.”
[image via Nebraska Attorney General]