On October 8, 1986, the quiet community of Gambrills, Maryland, was shaken by a brutal crime. In her own home, 34-year-old Boontem Anderson, a mother of two, was found deceased by her fiancé's 11-year-old son. She had been sexually assaulted, stabbed, and ultimately strangled to death. The discovery of her nude body in the bathtub launched a lengthy investigation that would remain unsolved for many years. At the time of her death, Anderson was on sick leave from her job at Fort Meade.
The case grew cold, leaving a shadow over the community and a void in the lives of her family. It wasn’t until years later that a breakthrough would come, not from a new lead in her case specifically, but from advancements in forensic technology and the investigation of other violent crimes. The key to solving Boontem Anderson's murder lay in DNA evidence collected at the scene, which was carefully preserved. This genetic material would eventually link her case to a string of other heinous acts.
The man responsible for Boontem Anderson's death was identified as Alexander Wayne Watson Jr. Watson, who was a minor at the time of the murder, lived only a couple of miles from the Anderson family and was an acquaintance of her son from a fast-food restaurant where they both worked. Watson was already serving a life sentence for a 1994 murder when DNA evidence connected him to the deaths of Anderson and two other women. In 2007, to avoid a potential death sentence, Watson pleaded guilty to the murders of Boontem Anderson, Mary Elaine Shereika, and Lisa Kathleen Haenel. He was given four additional life sentences for these crimes and is currently incarcerated at the North Branch Correctional Institution in Cresaptown, Maryland.
