On a tragic day in March of 2018, 44-year-old Kristi Cline Boshell, a female, lost her life in her Utica, Michigan, apartment. The initial report to the Shelby Township Police suggested a suicide, but the circumstances at the scene quickly raised doubts among the responding officers. Kristi was discovered with a fatal gunshot wound to her head in the Crystal Lake Apartments she shared with her husband, Joshua Boshell.
As detectives delved into the case, a darker story began to emerge, one that pointed not to self-harm, but to a violent end at the hands of another.
The investigation into Kristi’s death led authorities to suspect her husband, 40-year-old Joshua Boshell. Evidence gathered through search warrants and witness interviews painted a grim picture of their home life, which was reportedly marred by previous domestic disturbances. This history of domestic turmoil, coupled with the suspicious nature of Kristi's death, led to Joshua Boshell's arrest. He was subsequently charged with first-degree murder and felony firearms violations. In a stark contradiction to the evidence, Joshua initially claimed that his wife had attempted to take her own life. At his arraignment, he was denied bond, a decision that foreshadowed the serious legal battle to come.
The case against Joshua Boshell proceeded to trial, where a jury ultimately found him guilty of second-degree murder. During the court proceedings, heartbreaking testimony from Kristi's son, Robert Ewald, revealed a history of physical abuse his mother had endured at the hands of her husband. This powerful testimony provided a window into the volatile environment in which Kristi lived. Following his conviction, Joshua Boshell was sentenced to a lengthy prison term of 31 to 50 years. His legal team maintained that the shooting was a tragic accident and filed an appeal. However, in July of 2020, a three-judge panel unanimously upheld his conviction and sentence, solidifying the legal conclusion to the tragic death of Kristi Boshell. The case of Joshua Boshell was further marked by a strange coincidence: at the time of his incarceration, his brother, Jeremiah Boshell, was also being held in the same Macomb County jail on separate murder charges.
