On a late summer evening in Bountiful, Utah, the life of Frank Robert Boulton, a 38-year-old Caucasian male, was tragically cut short on August 29, 1987. Boulton, who worked at Deseret Industries, had spent the earlier part of the day with a coworker, Russell M. Anderson. Their day together included a trip to the old Salt Palace to watch wrestling matches, an outing that involved heavy drinking.
As the day turned into night, the two men found themselves in the parking lot of a Bountiful
church. The camaraderie of the day devolved into a senseless act of violence. While in the parking lot, Anderson, in what he would later describe as a drunken and confused state, shot Boulton multiple times. The reasons behind the shooting remained unclear, with Anderson himself later unable to provide a coherent motive for his actions, attributing them to being "sloppy drunk" and "messed up."
The investigation into Frank Boulton's death led to the arrest of Russell M. Anderson. Anderson was not only responsible for Boulton's murder but was also implicated in the shooting deaths of Norman B. and Janet Marie Armstrong just a month prior, on July 22, 1987. He eventually pleaded guilty but mentally ill to all three murders.
For the killing of Frank Boulton and the Armstrongs, Russell M. Anderson was sentenced to three consecutive five-years-to-life terms at the Utah State Prison. A judge determined that Anderson was mentally retarded but not mentally ill, and therefore a stay at the state hospital would not be beneficial as his condition was not treatable or curable. In subsequent parole hearings, Anderson expressed remorse for his actions but struggled to recall the specific details of the night he killed Frank Boulton, a tragic end to a day that began with shared entertainment and ended in a fatal encounter.
