LOGAN — A Kaysville man was charged with capital murder Wednesday, just one day after prosecutors filed the same charge against his girlfriend in the slaying of a Logan man.
Court records suggest the couple, Tamara Rhinehart and Craig Duncan Nicholls, lured Rhinehart's ex-husband, Michael J. Boudrero, to a North Logan residence where he was shot and killed earlier this month.
"This appears to be the classic definition of a cold-blooded murder," Cache County Attorney George Daines said. "There's no sign of a struggle."
The motive for killing Boudrero may have been a life-insurance policy taken out for the longtime Cache Valley plumber. Police found the policy in Rhinehart's Clearfield apartment, according to a search warrant affidavit filed in 1st District Court. The policy was apparently for $50,000, and investigators have found several other potential policies or policy applications for higher amounts, Daines said.
Rhinehart, 44, remains in the Cache County Jail without bail after 1st District Judge Clint Judkins ruled Wednesday that she was indigent and would need a public defender.
Nicholls, a 39-year-old South African national, was expected to be transferred to the Cache County Jail sometime Wednesday night or this morning after being held in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.
Police arrested Rhinehart and Nicholls at the woman's Clearfield apartment Monday night without incident, Daines said.
Family members had suspected foul play as soon as Boudrero was reported missing July 9. He was last seen July 8 when he told his mother he was going to meet with someone in North Logan to discuss a plumbing job.
"We knew something was up because he just didn't come home," Boudrero's 27-year-old son, Chris Boudrero, said Wednesday following Rhinehart's court hearing. "We thought the worst."
Chris Boudrero joined several family members at the court hearing, including Michael Boudrero's mother and sister.
Rhinehart was escorted into the courtroom wearing navy jail pants and a shirt, with her wrists and ankles handcuffed. She spoke only a few times during her brief appearance. The judge ordered her to appear again Monday, where she will likely be appointed a public defender chosen from a list of lawyers qualified to work on capital cases.
Rhinehart's 20-year-old son, Shea Croshaw, was the only member of Rhinehart's family to attend the proceedings.
Outside the courtroom, he struggled to articulate his feelings on the charges against his mother.
"I'm here to lend any support that I can. She's my mother," he said.
Croshaw spoke with Boudrero's family members both before and after the hearing. He characterized his mother's relationship during her 10-year marriage to Boudrero as "generally healthy."
According to court documents, however, Rhinehart complained to a confidential police informant that her ex-husband was late in paying alimony. She also told the informant that Boudrero withheld child support money from her by working "scab jobs," court documents stated.
"Everything was about money to her," Chris Boudrero countered. "I think she'd do anything for money."
Rhinehart told the informant she "knew how to get Mr. Boudrero out of the house to look at a 'scab job' at a construction site, consistent with how the homicide was committed," court documents stated.
On one occasion, Rhinehart told the informant, "Well, plan A is going to happen soon," court documents stated. When the informant asked Rhinehart what she meant, the woman replied, "You know he's going to be gone," court documents stated. Rhinehart also told the informant on other occasions that she would have her boyfriend kill Boudrero, according to court records.
Nicholls matched the description of a man seen on a Brigham City Wal-Mart surveillance video purchasing a phone card on July 8 that was later used to call Boudrero's cell phone three times that same day between 5:30 p.m. and 8:50 p.m.
Boudrero told his mother July 8 he was going to North Logan to discuss a potential plumbing job. He left his mother's house about 8 p.m. and was last seen alive by workers near the North Logan residence, 2771 N. 1400 East, where he was found dead three days later, court documents stated. Police found Boudrero's body on July 11 locked in a storage room under the front porch of the unfinished house with bullet wounds in his chest and back, court documents stated. It appeared he had been shot and then dragged to the storage room, court documents stated. Police lifted fingerprints from the scene and a shoeprint from someone stepping in Boudrero's blood, according to court documents.
Investigators had not yet recovered the murder weapon, Daines said. However, in addition to murder, Nicholls was also charged with possession of a firearm by a restricted person, a third-degree felony. Nicholls' criminal history includes convictions for theft, forgery, shoplifting and simple assault, Daines said.
Investigators have evidence that Nicholls obtained the firearm through a third party but Daines would not comment if the weapon was in police custody or whether it matched the murder weapon.
Nicholls is still awaiting a court date on his charges. Daines said it was possible his office could be filing more counts against Rhinehart in connection with the insurance applications found in her apartment.
Meanwhile, the 9- and 13-year-old sons born to Rhinehart and Boudrero during their 10-year marriage are now in Division of Child and Family Services custody, agency spokeswoman Carol Sisco said. A custody hearing originally set for Wednesday for the two boys, ages 13 and 9, was rescheduled for Monday, she said.
If convicted, Nicholls and Rhinehart could face execution, though Daines said it was too early to say if prosecutors would seek the death penalty.
E-mail: djensen@desnews.com