Their Father Made Them Orphans
(Forensic Files, “All Wet”)
On November of 2018, media outlets all over the country ran an AP story reporting that Tim Boczkowski was up for parole in North Carolina.
The prospect of the Tar Heel State releasing a man found guilty of drowning both of his wives — one in a bathtub in Greensboro in 1990 and the other in a hot tub in Pittsburgh in 1994 — made for scintillating headlines.
Sentence has teeth. But the fact is that Boczkowski, who the press has called an American Bluebeard, has almost no chance of getting out and snagging a new spouse on Match.com.
Even if the onetime owner of a dental-supply business wins parole, North Carolina will immediately turn him over to authorities in Pennsylvania, where he has a separate life sentence waiting for him.
For this week, I looked for a story with more possibilities: What happened to Boczkowski’s daughter and two sons, who were school-aged when they lost their loving biological mother and then their kind-hearted stepmother?
Media-friendly. At the time of the second murder, of Maryann Boczkowski in 1994, Todd was 9 years old, Sandy 10, and Randy 13.
The trio gave separate on-camera interviews on “While the Children Slept,” the American Justice episode about the case. They said they supported their father’s innocence. “Whether he’s guilty or innocent, I’m still going to love him,” said Todd.
That same year, the kids also spoke out in court during the sentencing phase of the Maryann Boczkowski homicide trial. They asked the court to spare their dad’s life, but he got a death sentence anyway. (Judge Donna Jo McDaniel later reduced it to life.)
Musical homes. As of 2003, when Forensic Files originally aired “All Wet,” about the deaths of Elaine Pegher Boczkowski and Maryann Fullerton Boczkowski, the kids were saying they still loved their father and believed that both of their moms died accidentally.
So, what has happened to them since Tim Boczkowski traded his Dockers for prison scrubs?
Although they were shuffled around a lot, the Boczkowskis managed to stay together. They first lived with their aunt and then their grandparents, but for whatever reason, they couldn’t care for them permanently.
Odyssey concludes. The kids landed in a happy foster home, but it was overcrowded and its location made it impossible for all of them to continue school in the North Hills District of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
In 1996, the AP reported that the Boczkowski kids were searching for a new foster home where they could stay together and in the same school district.
Here’s the best part of the story: 100 people applied to adopt them.
Faithful offspring. County authorities narrowed down the list to 20. The kids, who were ages 12 to 15 by then, decided on a couple whose own children who had grown up and moved out, according to an AP story from January 17, 1997.
But they hadn’t forgotten about their original dad. According to another AP account: “They write him and are allowed one phone call a year. They’ve mailed him photos and sent him tins of cookies for Christmas.”
In the meantime, the new foster family must have done a good job.
Impressive résumés. The kids participated in sports in school, finished college, and went on to have LinkedIn profiles brimming with keywords like “sales funnels,” “competitive compensation structure,” and “social interaction through a behavioral system.”
(Not exactly sure what all those terms mean, but they sound like the stuff hiring managers like to see.)
Randy, the eldest child, grew up to work with at-risk young men at George Junior Republic and later joined a Philadelphia-area crowd-management company as an intern and rose to branch manager.
Baby a hero. His sister, Sandy, graduated from North Carolina State and has had a decade-long career as an employment recruiter and expert on talent development for private industry.
And the youngest Boczkowski, Todd, trained with the Civil Air Patrol when he was 16. He joined the U.S. Air Force and became a military police officer. In 2006, a Virginia Daily Press story mentioned Todd after he came to the aid of a child at the scene of a shooting in Hampton.
After his military service, Todd worked in online marketing for several years before he and a business partner established their own digital consulting firm in Pittsburgh.
No hell-raiser. Meanwhile, their father, Tim Boczkowski, lives in medium security at the Nash Correctional Institution. His last legal action of note came in 2007, when his bid for a new trial for Maryann Boczkowski’s death was rejected.
Boczkowski’s prison record reflects good behavior — no infractions or escape attempts.
There aren’t any recent media accounts about the kids’ relationship with their father, but I suspect they still believe in his innocence, especially considering that Sandy Boczkowski has chosen to live in Raleigh — just 47 miles from where her dad occupies a cell in Nashville, North Carolina.
That’s all for this post. Until next time, cheers. — RR
Watch the Forensic Files episode on YouTube or Amazon Prime
andonline
