By Pat Maurer
Correspondent
A Farwell woman, Judy Marie Boyer, 55, arrested last October 21 and charged with the murder of two family members and two family friends, was in Clare Circuit Court Wednesday and pled guilty to killing four people on October 20th, 2021.
The murders took place at a residence on South Harrison Avenue.
An email Thursday morning from Clare County Prosecutor Michelle Ambrozaitis said Boyer pled guilty Wednesday “to Homicide – Murder First Degree – Premeditated for the murders of Henry Boyer and Patricia Boyer. She also pled guilty to Murder – Second Degree for the murders of Wade Bacon and Zachary Salminen that occurred on October 20, 2021.
“First degree murder carries a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
Boyer was originally facing eight counts, the four for murder and four counts of the use of a firearm in a felony shooting, a two- year charge. Ambrozaitis had also put Boyer on notice that she was going to seek enhanced sentencing as a habitual 4th offender. Her bond at her arraignment last year was $1 million.
Court proceedings were slowed by two psychiatric evaluations, one by state doctors and a second requested by her attorney.
Police enforcement including Clare County deputies, Clare City police and Michigan State Police Troopers all responded to the report of a shooting at the home on South Harrison Avenue south of Surrey Road around 4 p.m. October 20, 2021.
When deputies arrived, they found two men had been shot, an initial release from the Sheriff’s Office said. A later release from Sheriff Wilson said the two men had been shot in the head by a small caliber firearm, later identified as a .22 caliber rifle.
Zachary Alan Salminen was pronounced dead at the scene, an October 22 joint release from Clare County Sheriff John Wilson and Clare County Prosecutor Michelle Ambrozaitis said. The other victim Wade Harlan Bacon was transported to the hospital where he was later pronounced dead. Both men were friends of Boyer’s nephew Ryan Beatty, police said
In an investigation at the scene, two more bodies were found in an outbuilding. They were later identified as Judy Boyer’s father, Henry Lee Boyer, 85 and her sister Patricia Ann Boyer, 61.
Witnesses placed Judy Boyer and her nephew Ryan Beatty on the scene. Beatty, who was reportedly unaware Henry and Patricia Boyer had been shot earlier in the day, said he was in another part of the home when Salminen and Bacon were shot. He was charged for aiding Boyer and helping her dispose of the weapon she allegedly used in the murders.
Boyer fled the scene and was found and arrested the next day in Wexford County. The police search for her said she was “armed and dangerous.”
A sentencing hearing will be scheduled by the court for a date in November,” Ambrozaitis added.