Dr. John Boyle will remain in prison, in part because of the “community opposition communicated to the board.”
The Ohio Parole Board has denied Boyle’s bid for parole for a third time. Now 82, Boyle was convicted of aggravated murder and gross abuse of a corpse for the killing of his estranged wife Noreen on Dec. 31, 1989.
Boyle was sentenced to 21½ years to life in prison.
A five-member board voted unanimously to keep the doctor in prison at least another five years.
“The board recognizes Mr. Boyle’s conduct, education and rehabilitative efforts,” members wrote. “Nonetheless, the board finds that the unique elements of the offense, the community opposition communicated to the board and the lack of insight relative to the degree of victimization release would not promote the interest of justice, rendering him unsuitable for release at this time.”
Boyle has long maintained his innocence.
He struck Noreen in the head, then suffocated her by putting a plastic bag over her. Authorities obtained search warrants partly on the words of the couple’s children.
Body of Boyle’s wife found under basement floor in Erie, Pa.
Noreen’s body was recovered on Jan. 25, 1990, under the basement floor of Boyle’s new home in Erie, Pennsylvania. She had filed for divorce in November 1989 after 22 years of marriage, charging extreme mental cruelty and gross neglect.
The couple had a 12-year-old son, Collier, who would be a key witness for the prosecution, and a 3-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, who was adopted.
Collier told police he heard thumps the night before his mother disappeared.
The Boyles had lived in Mansfield since 1983, moving from Virginia, where John worked at a Navy clinic. Boyle was planning to move to Erie to practice occupational medicine and review industrial injury claims.
He reportedly had many affairs. A mistress, Sherri Lee Campbell, then 28, gave birth to a daughter in January 1990, less than two weeks after Noreen went missing. She and Boyle had signed a contract for a $299,000 home in Erie on Nov. 13, 1989.
Noreen’s disappearance led to some wild stories. Boyle’s brother worked at the Pentagon and claimed he ran into Noreen at Washington Dulles Airport. He said he talked to Noreen, and she was carrying a gun.
Boyle’s brother also made reference to Noreen reportedly being connected to a child abduction ring. Defense attorneys declined to call him as a witness.
In 1995, Noreen’s body was exhumed in Baltimore. A blood sample from the body matched that of Noreen’s sister and eliminated any lingering doubts.
“There is substantial reason to believe that as the unique factors of the offense of conviction significantly outweigh the incarcerated individual’s rehabilitative efforts, the release of the incarcerated individual into society would create undue risk to public safety and/or would not further the interest of justice, nor be consistent with the welfare and security of society,” parole board members wrote in their decision.
Trial received plenty of attention from public
Boyle’s trial started June 4, 1990. The public couldn’t get enough of it.
Now-retired News Journal Editor Tom Brennan wrote a column about the proceedings.
“It’s like a soap opera, and no one wants to miss an episode,” he wrote.
The courtroom was packed with trial watchers for the entirety of its four-week duration. Those who couldn’t squeeze into the courtroom watched on a TV that was hooked up in the lobby.
Boyle testified on his own behalf, spending nine hours over two days on the witness stand. He had leased a jackhammer two days before the murder to tear up the floor and bury Noreen.
A jury convicted him after six hours of deliberations.
The late Prosecutor James Mayer Jr. called Boyle “diabolical” and “probably the biggest liar I’ve ever seen” for a 2010 News Journal story on the 20th anniversary of the trial.
Boyle is an inmate at Marion Correctional Institution. He was turned down for parole in 2010 and 2020.
mcaudill@gannett.com
419-521-7219
X: @MarkCau32059251
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Turned down for 3rd time: Dr. Boyle denied parole for killing his wife
Reporting by Mark Caudill, Mansfield News Journal / Mansfield News Journal
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