DNA evidence brings break in 12-year-old double homicide [Updated]

Neighbors became worried in 1997 when they stopped seeing Nancy Boehm and her mentally impaired son, Shawn, 23, around their North Hollywood neighborhood.

Their worst fears were realized when a friend discovered them both stabbed multiple times inside the home they had shared for more than 20 years.

The slayings went unsolved for 12 years. Today at 1 p.m., Los Angeles police are scheduled to announce an arrest in the case based on DNA evidence.

The victims were found in separate bedrooms of the home in the 5700 block of Riverton Avenue.

Neighbors said Nancy Boehm was an assembly worker for General Motors until she was laid off several years before her death. Shawn Boehm, who had played basketball in the Special Olympics, was often seen riding his bike or walking along the street, neighbors said.

"He looked like somebody straight from Kansas," neighbor Marill Falcone told The Times in 1997.

Police initially had few clues or a motive for the killing. 

-- Robert J. Lopez and Andrew Blankstein

[Updated at 8:40 a.m.: The press conference was moved to 1 p.m. from 11 a.m.]

Comments

[Gibraltar]

I saw this on Channel 7 News this morning. Thank goodness for DNA. May the arrest(s) bring comfort to the family.

[bigdad]

Good job fellas!