Citing media blitz, lawyer wants murder trial moved

News of Centre Hall slaying has spread across the nation

Sara Ganim

BELLEFONTE — Media coverage of the case against a Centre Hall woman accused of planning her husband's murder has literally spanned the country, Mirinda Boob's attorney said Tuesday.

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Attorney Ed Blanarik said his searches on popular sites such as Google and Facebook show news outlets as far away as North Dakota picked up stories about allegations by police that Mirinda Boob, 27, planned the killing of Sam Boob, 29, through text-message conversations with an accomplice.

Citing the “extensive” and “pervasive” coverage, Blanarik asked a Centre County judge to consider either taking the case out of Centre County or bringing in jurors from elsewhere for the trial.

“It’s amazing,” Blanarik said. “It’s all over. ... It’s available out there and most people have seen this or couldn’t help but see it.”

Similar motions have been made in other murder cases in Centre County since 2005. None of those were successful.

But Blanarik said he hopes that a judge will agree that, especially in Penns Valley, where Sam and Mirinda Boob lived, everyone is buzzing about what might have happened.

“Overall, there is a lot of negative opinion in the Valley,” Blanarik said. That’s evident, he said, in comments posted in online forums.

It “goes to the essence of prejudice,” he said.

Police say that the morning of Aug. 23 Mirinda Boob began exchanging text messages with Ronald Heichel, a 29-year-old Bellefonte man she’d met weeks prior. In the messages, police say Mirinda Boob told Heichel how to get into her garage and use one of her husband’s shotguns to shoot Sam Boob twice.

Five days later, both Mirinda Boob and Heichel were charged in connection with the killing. Both are arguing, however, that there is not enough evidence for first-degree murder charges to stand against them. Heichel is scheduled for a hearing Friday at which his attorney is expected to argue that police arrested the wrong man.

Blanarik has maintained that Mirinda Boob had no idea what was going to happen to her husband and that Heichel acted alone. As part of his motion, he’s asking a judge to throw out the case against her, citing lack of evidence.

He said he’s still sifting through about 1,500 pages of documents — everything from police reports to court orders and phone interceptions — received from police.

“This case has had a different twist and turn that was unanticipated for me each week since it started,” Blanarik said. “It just is amazing to me.”

Blanarik said he may file more motions as more evidence is made available by police. He said he foresees the case going before a jury sometime in late spring.

Sara Ganim can be reached at 231-4616.