David Robert Boss, a 21-year-old White / Caucasian male, was found deceased in his Moscow, Idaho, apartment on March 31, 2007. A senior at the University of Idaho, Boss had been shot twice in the head at close range. Friends discovered his body after becoming concerned when they were unable to contact him.
The investigation quickly focused on John Joseph Delling, a former high school classmate of Boss.
Cell phone records placed Delling in Moscow at the time of the murder and showed he had called Boss shortly before the estimated time of death. In the moments leading up to his death, it is believed that Boss was preparing tea or cocoa for Delling, a childhood friend with whom he had maintained contact even as others had distanced themselves due to Delling's increasingly erratic behavior. The two had reportedly spoken on the phone for about 15 minutes before Delling arrived at Boss's apartment.
Delling was apprehended in Sparks, Nevada, while driving a stolen car. This vehicle was connected to another homicide in Boise, that of Bradley Morse. Delling was subsequently charged with the murders of both David Boss and Bradley Morse. He was also a suspect in the shooting of another former classmate, Jacob J. Thompson, in Tucson, Arizona. Delling, who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, embarked on what authorities described as a "6,500-mile road trip across the West" during which these crimes occurred. He told investigators he believed his former classmates were "stealing his powers."
John Delling pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder for the deaths of David Boss and Bradley Morse. He was sentenced to two concurrent life terms in prison without the possibility of parole. Due to his mental health condition, Delling's fitness to stand trial was a consideration during the legal proceedings.
