One of Utah's most notorious serial rapists is expected to be released a week from today.
Officials with the Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed to the Deseret Morning News that Bob Lee Boog Jr., known as the Capitol Hill Rapist, will be released from a federal facility outside of Denver on Aug. 8.
State prison officials say they plan to place Boog, 51, in a state-run halfway house for sex offenders, where Boog will be allowed out in the community during the daytime to find employment but will not be allowed out at night. Prison spokesman Jack Ford said parole officers also plan to check on Boog at his place of employment to keep tabs on him.
Boog has been serving a four-year sentence on a drug-related federal parole violation after admitting to selling cocaine to an undercover agent in 1987. The federal sentence came after Boog served 16 years in state prison for stalking and raping at least a dozen women between 1986 and 1987.
News of Boog's release came last May when Boog was expected to be released to a federal halfway house in Salt Lake City. However, due to the high-profile nature of his crimes, the halfway house would not take him, and Boog was placed in the Davis County Jail. Ford said Boog's high profile prompted jail officials to hand him back over to federal prison officials, who relocated Boog to the Englewood facility in Littleton, Colo., where he is being held until next week.
"After August 8th, we're finished with him, so we don't have any say as to what to do with him," said Darrel Cash with the Federal Bureau of Prisons office in Salt Lake City.
Ford said state prison guards will take Boog into custody in Colorado and bring him back to Utah. Boog will likely be placed in a halfway house in Salt Lake City
Although the law allows for Boog to be placed on intensive supervised parole for a maximum of 10 years, Boog's parole could end sooner. That, Ford said, will be up to the Utah Board of Pardons.
According to the parole conditions set by the board in November 2003, Boog will undergo a 30-day orientation and will be required to complete a sex-offender treatment program. Boog will be directed to find employment and pay the state for his food and lodging at the halfway house and obey a curfew.
The board has also ordered that Boog not leave the state and he must receive special permission to leave Salt Lake County. He is not allowed to be in places where alcohol is served and must be drug- and alcohol-free.
Boog is one of Utah's most violent rapists. In 1998, he pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated sexual assault and was sentenced to serve 10 to 99 years in state prison. Citing evidence of "complete acceptance of responsibility" and some level of "remorse and apparent motivation to rehabilitate," the board of pardons granted Boog prison release in a May 2001 decision. During his time in state prison, Boog did receive sex offender treatment.
Prosecutors said Boog earned his title by preying on women in the Capitol Hill area matching a certain physical profile. Once fixated, Boog would stalk a woman to find out her marital status, go through her mail and memorize the layout of her home.
Before an attack, Boog would cut the phone lines and often enter a residence wearing a mask, yellow latex gloves and crotchless pants. He would then show a knife and call his victim by name.
During an attack on Halloween eve in 1987, Boog attacked a woman by jumping from behind a shower curtain with a butcher knife. Police have always believed Boog attacked more women than the 12 identified.
Ford said ultimately the goal will be to return Boog into society as a productive crime-free citizen. Boog will eventually be allowed to live on his own, but parole officers will still conduct random house visits, random drug tests and house searches, which may include a software search of his computer for any evidence of pornography. Boog has been ordered not to view any material that is sexually provocative. These restrictions could go on for three years.
Ford said parole officers will file reports to the board every quarter and that the board could change Boog's parole conditions depending on his behavior.
Even after his parole, as a registered sex offender, Boog must renew his driver's license each year and update his residential address, which is kept in a state database accessible to the public via the Internet.
Victims coordinators plan to inform a limited number of victims about his release. Ford said any victims can still write to the Board of Pardons expressing any concerns they may have.
E-mail: gfattah@desnews.com