A Reporter Recalls Mansfield’s Trial of the Century
(‘Foundation of Lies,’ Forensic Files)
John “Jack” Boyle clearly saw too many Vincent Price movies. Or maybe he didn’t need to watch any horror films because he already had macabre impulses inside him.
After the wealthy doctor from Mansfield, Ohio impregnated his girlfriend, he hoped to marry her without the financial inconveniences of a split from Noreen Boyle, the mother of his son, Collier, 11, and daughter, Elizabeth, 3.
Jack avoided a divorce by killing Noreen just before New Year’s day of 1990. And here’s the unusually ghastly part of the murder: He buried her beneath a fresh layer of concrete in the basement of the new house that he intended to occupy with Sherri Campbell in Erie, Pennsylvania.
But instead of winning himself a second chance at marriage, he earned a prison sentence of 20 years to life.
I feel a personal connection with the case because I grew up 40 miles from Erie — it was the big city we went to if we couldn’t find something in Meadville — and I had relatives in Mansfield, Ohio.
A previous post discussed the denouement of the crime and its consequences for Noreen’s son, now known as Collier Landry.
This time, I looked into the homicide’s effect on the community of Mansfield — population 46,000 — courtesy of a phone interview with journalist John Futty, a native who wrote about the case for the Mansfield News Journal.
“I’ve covered courts and cops for four decades now,” says John, “but I’ve never covered anything that had that level of public interest or was reported so comprehensively.”
Below are excerpts from my phone conversation with John, who now works for the Columbus Dispatch:
According to Forensic Files, Jack Boyle had a hugely successful medical practice. Had you heard of him before the murder? No, I don’t believe I had. My recollection was that Noreen and John weren’t too involved in the community. But we heard from a lot of patients who were surprised because they really liked him as a physician.
How did locals react to the case? The community was obsessed with it all the way throughout the trial. It’s not your typical murder case. We’re talking about someone from Woodland, one of the most prestigious areas in town, who transported a body to a new home he hoped to share with his pregnant girlfriend.
Was there a lot of sympathy for Collier, who was 12 years old when he testified? Yes. Collier’s testimony was seen by pretty much everyone and it was fascinating. Obviously, a pretty bright kid.
What about Noreen — was there sympathy for her? Yes, especially because her husband had a pregnant girlfriend.
What did people think of the character assassination Jack and his brother waged against Noreen? They claimed she was a gold smuggler and baby seller. That came after he went to prison, when he was trying to get a new trial. The people who knew Noreen didn’t buy it.
Back to the trial — I assume the courtroom was packed every day. The public had to get there early if they wanted to get a seat inside. There was a video monitor outside for those who couldn’t fit. The judge didn’t want people going in and out of the courtroom.
What was it like to cover the trial as a reporter for a small-town newspaper? There were two of us. We would have a tape recorder running during the trial. We had to transcribe the testimony ourselves. The two of us would stay late into the night to type big sections of key testimony so we could fill a couple of inside pages in the paper the next day.
Did you appear on any of the true crime shows about the Jack and Noreen Boyle case? More often or not, I turn down requests to be on shows. They take your time. You have to go somewhere where they’re doing the filming. You might sit there in the interview for an hour or more and end up with a couple snippets on TV.♠
That’s all for the post. Until next time, cheers. — RR
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