James “Jim Bob” Booher (Courtesy The Gazette)
UPDATE
Three people indicted in connection with 2014 unsolved murder
May 22, 2019 | by KCRG News Staff
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Three people were indicted on multiple federal charges in connection to an unsolved crime from 2014 that resulted in the death of James Booher.
Matthew Barrett Robbins, 46, William Leo Yancey, 43, and Danielle Lynn Busch, 29, were charged with robbery affecting interstate commerce, conspiracy to commit robbery affecting interstate commerce, and using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence resulting in murder. The charges were filed in federal court for the Northern District of Iowa and unsealed on Wednesday.
The indictment alleges that, on or around May 31, 2014, the three persons named conspired to, and then did, rob Booher of methamphetamine that he posessed and the proceeds from the sale of meth. Prosecutors said they did so through means of actual and threatened force.
The filing said that the three did reveal and discharge a firearm while committing the robbery, leading to the death of Booher.
James Allan “Jim Bob” Booher, 51, of Marion, Iowa, was last seen Saturday morning, May 31, 2014, in the 5900 block of Fourth Street SW in Cedar Rapids. On June 3, 2014, his sister, Susie Reynolds, reported him missing to the Marion Police Department, who issued an Operation Quickfind.
Marion in Linn CountyOn June 9, 2014, Booher’s truck — a tan 1996 Chevy extended cab with a topper and license plate number 447 ZIO — was found abandoned in Cedar Rapids.
Marion Police said early on in the investigation that Booher’s disappearance was considered involuntary and suspicious.
The Linn County Sheriff’s Office, Cedar Rapids Police Department and Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation have been aiding in the search for Booher.
On Friday, Oct. 17, 2014, Marion Police Lt. Scott Elam said Booher’s disappearance is being treated as a homicide.
“We’re treating it as a homicide until we find his body,” Elam is quoted as saying in a Cedar Rapids Gazette article by Lee Hermiston dated Oct. 17, 2014. “The family believes that he’s deceased. We believe he’s no longer with us, either.”
Elam said Booher came from a large family and it was “very unusual” that Booher wouldn’t have made contact with any of them.
“The circumstances were unusual to begin with,” said Elam, who declined to elaborate further about the investigation.
Courtesy photo KCRG-TV9Booher’s family decided to hold memorial services for him on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2014.
“I think we all need closure,” Reynolds told the Gazette. “I know that won’t be coming for a while. We won’t have any closure until we find his body.”
Family and friends gathered Friday night, Oct. 17, 2014, at Booher’s favorite bar, Just Jules, on Center Point Road NE to pin favorite family photos around the bar. The event also served as a fundraiser to help pay for funeral expenses.
Reported Hermiston in the Oct. 17, 2014 article:
Reynolds said her brother had “the biggest smile ever” and loved his twin boys. She described him as “the best carpenter in town” and said he had a knack for finding discarded items, fixing them up and reselling them.
“He was just a fun-loving guy,” she said. “He’s going to be very missed.”
With hunting season underway, Reynolds said she asks that hunters be on the lookout for her brother’s body.
In an earlier Gazette article dated Tuesday, June 24, 2014, the search for Booher led police to a possible meth lab but not Booher.
The Gazette said that according to the Marion Police Department, investigators learned about a possible meth lab in Swisher while investigating Booher’s disappearance. Police obtained a search warrant for a residence at 1576 120th St. NW outside Swisher in rural Johnson County.
Courtesy photo Liz Martin / The GazetteMarion police, the Linn County Sheriff’s Office and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation assisted the Johnson County Drug Task Force and Iowa State Patrol’s Tactical Team in executing the warrant Tuesday morning, June 24. Authorities didn’t reveal what they discovered at the residence but said charges were pending and would come from the drug task force’s investigation.
Hermiston reported in the story:
Marion police Lt. Scott Elam said information about the meth lab came up during their investigation into Booher’s appearance, though police didn’t necessarily believe he was at the residence.
“We didn’t have that specific of information,” Elam said. “It was something we looked into. We didn’t find anything related to that investigation there.”
Elam said sometimes when police are investigating one case, information about another possible crime comes up. This was one of those cases, he said.
“It was just kind of one of those things,” he said. “Sometimes during an investigation, you learn other stuff. It came to light as part of our investigation.
“I don’t know that anything was relevant” to the missing person investigation.
A forensics team that specializes in identifying human remains is helping search for evidence outside a rural Ely farmhouse once linked to a Marion man who went missing a year ago and is presumed the victim of a homicide, The Gazette reported on Thursday, May 7, 2015.
Police said the feds were conducting the Booher’s suspected drug-related homicide.
A University of Indianapolis spokesman said its archaeology and forensics team — made up of a professor and graduate students — was dispatched to the rural Ely site at the request of law enforcement.
“They are the go-to people whenever suspected human remains are discovered,” Scott Hall, media relations director for the university, said in the May 7 Gazette article. He declined to comment further.
Gazette reporters Lee Hermiston and Trish Mehaffey said the forensics search team and law enforcement authorities were at 397 Nederhiser Road, northeast of Ely and just south west of Palisades-Kepler State Park, and that according to federal documents, a man associated with Booher once lived at that address.
The Gazette also reported:
That man, 42-year-old Matthew B. Robbins, is currently in the custody of U.S. Marshals and awaiting a second trial on firearms charges.
According to an April 27 federal criminal complaint charging his former wife, 41-year-old Danielle Ayers, with perjury, Robbins lived at that address. While outlining charges against Ayers, the affidavit describes a text message exchange between Ayers and another person that concerns Booher.
The document states that Robbins and another man robbed Booher about June 1, 2014 — the day after police say he was last seen alive.
A second federal court document dated April 13, outlining a weapons case against Robbins, appears to make a further reference to Booher.
The document states that about May 31, 2014, Robbins and a friend identified in documents as “D.B.” purchased meth from someone identified as “J.B.”
“They used the methamphetamine and later contacted J.B. to arrange for the purchase of a larger quantity of methamphetamine,” the document states.
Additionally, the trial document states that when J.B. went to Robbins’ home later that night, D.B. saw Robbins with a sawed-off shotgun.
A day or two afterward, another person — identified as J.G. — went to Robbins’ home looking for J.B. Robbins greeted J.G. at the door holding a .45 caliber handgun, the document shows.
~ Cedar Rapids Gazette, May 7, 2015
Authorities conducted an initial search of Robbins’ Nederhiser Road home in connection with Booher’s disappearance, but Robbins then moved from the home, but not before removing carpet, furnishing and fixtures and burning them behind the house. Read The Gazette’s full article.
Booher’s siblings told The Gazette they hadn’t spoken with Marion police about their brother’s case since February 2015.
May 22, 2019 | by KCRG News Staff
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – Three people were indicted on multiple federal charges in connection to an unsolved crime from 2014 that resulted in the death of James Booher.
Matthew Barrett Robbins, 46, William Leo Yancey, 43, and Danielle Lynn Busch, 29, were charged with robbery affecting interstate commerce, conspiracy to commit robbery affecting interstate commerce, and using, carrying, and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence resulting in murder. The charges were filed in federal court for the Northern District of Iowa and unsealed on Wednesday.
The indictment alleges that, on or around May 31, 2014, the three persons named conspired to, and then did, rob Booher of methamphetamine that he posessed and the proceeds from the sale of meth. Prosecutors said they did so through means of actual and threatened force.
The filing said that the three did reveal and discharge a firearm while committing the robbery, leading to the death of Booher. This would be considered murder under U.S. law, though nobody has been specifically charged with murder. Full Story
Tuesday, June 11, 2019 | by Eva Andersen, cbs2iowa.com
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (CBS2/FOX28) — Thursday afternoon, Matthew Robbins, 46, was the third defendant pleaded not guilty in a federal case involving the death of a Marion man. He is the third defendant in the case to do so.
Courtesy cbs2iowa.com
Robbins, along with William Yancey, 43, and Danielle Busch, 29 are each facing three counts: robbery affecting interstate commerce; conspiracy to commit robbery affecting interstate commerce; and using, carrying and brandishing a firearm resulting in the murder of James “Jimbob” Booher.
The case involving all three people is capital punishment eligible. Right now, U.S. Attorney General William Barr is currently reviewing the case and expects to make a decision on whether the death penalty will be pursued by December.
Court officials said that there is a terabyte of data stored with information related to the case, and due to its complex nature, it is not eligible for a speedy trial. A trial has been set tentatively for February 24, 2020. Full Story at cbs2iowa.com
Courtesy photo KCRG-TV9James Allan “Jim Bob” Booher, disappeared under suspicious circumstances on May 31, 2014, and is considered by officials and family as deceased.
A memorial Mass was held at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2014, at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Third Avenue and 10th Street SE, Cedar Rapids.
Jim was born March 30, 1963, to Karen Booher McCormick (Gremm) and the late Roy Franklin Booher of Cedar Rapids.
Jim was a 1982 graduate from Kennedy High and Dennison Job Corps, where he received his carpenter apprenticeship. He traveled the southern part of the country building apartment complexes for five years and joined the 308 Carpenters Union in 1988. His specialty was drywall and framing. He took great pride in his work; his family said he considered no job too high or dangerous.
Courtesy photo The GazetteHe married Kristina Rodgers on April 8, 1995, and became a devoted father to her twin boys, Billy and Brent, whom he’d helped raise since the boys were three months old. He loved the boys and would do anything for them if he could, Booher’s family said.
Jim loved the outdoors, camping, canoeing with his siblings, waterskiing, fishing, mushroom hunting, buying and selling, and motorcycling with his friends.
He is greatly missed by all his family — mom, stepdad Jim, brothers Tom, Dan, Rick and Rob, stepbrother Kevin, sisters Jane, Cindy, Susie, Julie, Penny and Laurie, stepsisters Carrie, Lora, Julie and Mary and spouses, and 45 nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, the family asked that donations for burial expenses be sent to his mother, Karen McCormick, 1961 Sand Piper Rd., Waukon, IA 52172.
If you have any additional information about James Booher’s murder, death please call Lt. Scott Elam of the Marion Police Department‘s Investigations Division at (319) 200-7713.
Former pro boxer says he knew his longtime friend killed James Booher —
Robert Bleakley testifies at trial of Matthew Robbins in Cedar Rapids
By: Trish Mehaffey Apr. 22, 2021
…..Bleakley admitted he had lied to a grand jury hearing evidence in Booher’s slaying because Robbins had told him he’d be in “a lot of trouble” if he told what he knew. Bleakley said he and Robbins had been friends for more than 30 years. He didn’t want to testify at Robbins’ trial but he did because it has been “horrible” living with what he knew for seven years. Andrew Shaw also testified Robbins admitted to killing Booher while they both were housed in the Iowa County Jail in Marengo.
Shaw said he told Robbins he knew what had happened to Booher but that Robbins at first denied it.
Later, when they were watching a television news report on Booher, Robbins said, “Yeah, I did it, but you already know the truth.”
Shaw was convicted last year of running a large marijuana trafficking ring that supplied marijuana to Chris Bagley and the two men charged with killing Bagley over drug robberies from Shaw.
Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.comhttps://www.thegazette.com/crime-courts/former-pro-boxer-says-he-knew-his-long-time-friend-killed-james-booher/
It’s very unfortunate this man chose that way of life.But that gives no one the right to kill him. However people that deal with meth ruin other people’s lives. Let it be someone else. Don’t deal. Don’t take it. It’s a terrible road.
why is his case not in the solved section
CEDAR RAPIDS — Two men, already serving prison terms, and one woman were charged Wednesday in federal court for the robbery and death of a Marion man who went missing May 31, 2014.
Federal prosecutors wouldn’t say what new evidence law enforcement may have received to result in filing charges nearly five years after James Booher, 51, was reported missing by his sister June 3. His truck was found abandoned June 9.
Marion police in 2015 considered Booher a homicide victim but no charges for his death have been filed until Wednesday.
Matthew Robbins of 44, of Ely, William L. Yancey and Danielle Busch, 29, of Cedar Rapids, are charged in U.S. District Court with robbery affecting interstate commerce, conspiracy to commit robbery affecting interstate commerce and using, carrying and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence resulting in murder, according to an indictment.
Busch pleaded not guilty Wednesday during an arraignment. Robbins and Yancey are already serving prison time for drug and firearm convictions. Robbins had been linked to Booher’s disappearance but he was only charged with firearms and drugs.
Robbins and Yancey, also serving time for drug offenses, haven’t been arraigned yet.
All three defendants are accused of robbing “J.B.” — Booher — of methamphetamine and money from the sales of drugs by force, violence and fear of injury, immediate and future to Booher on May 31, 2014, according to the indictment.
They are also accused of having a firearm during the robbery and fatally shooting Booher, according to the indictment. It doesn’t detail if there was more than one gun involved or if only one of them killed Booher but all are accused of participating in the crime.
The firearms charge is a “death constituting murder” charge under federal law, the indictment shows.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisa Williams, during Busch’s hearing, said this case was “capital death” eligible. In order to pursue the death penalty, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions would have to approve it and Williams said they haven’t heard back from his office at this time.
Robbins was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2016 for being a felon and unlawful drug user in possession of a firearm. Evidence from Robbins first trial, that ended in a hung jury, showed Robbins knew Booher and had purchased meth from him.
Robbins and another man robbed Booher about June 1, 2014 — the day after police say he was last seen alive, according to court documents in Robbins’ firearms case. Robbins and a friend identified as “D.B.” — Danielle Busch — purchased meth from Booher on May 31, 2014.
Booher and Busch used the meth and later contacted Booher to set up time to buy a larger quantity, according to court documents.
Booher went to Robbins’ home later that night and wasn’t seen after that visit, according to court documents. Another person went to Robbins home a day or two later, looking for Booher and Robbins greeted him at the door holding a .45 caliber handgun, the document showed.
In May 2015, during the investigation on Robbins, a forensics team that specializes in identifying human remains set up a dig site at a rural Ely farmhouse, where Robbins once lived, to search for evidence in Booher’s death, at the request of the Marion Police Department.
At that time, former Chief Harry Daugherty said he couldn’t provide details, only that it involved a federal drug-related homicide investigation.
oh, another meth head that was killed. How about not dealing in drugs and this type of shit won’t happen? Dumb asses
Oh hey look another dumbass that doesn’t know what he is talking about and hey look at that his name is Chris Stieker. All I am going to say is if you don’t know anything about it or don’t have something nice to say don’t say it. If you do have something to say that is constructive to the cold case then please present your case, but don’t you dare go around and speaking about something you might not know as much as you think you do on.
Hey cock boy, read the article. The guy was dealing in meth and probably helped ruin other people’s lives. I can say whatever I want. Piss off
You are typing illiterately and all of your statements are non-factual assumptions that irritate most who love someone who is or was man just like us. No need for negative inputs pertaining to anything, catch a clue man, there is such thing as karma.
You don’t even know what illiterate means. Stop using words bigger than two syllables because you sound foolish
Everyone knows mat killed him. I pray authorities can prove it and give Jim and his family justice
Dude u have no business talking like that have some respect
Today is your twin boys and your mother’s Birthday and they miss you and want you to know that your whole family thinks of you each and every day and that they won’t stop looking until they fine you, the people that did this will be brought to justice for you love and miss you always your sister Susie
I MISS YOU EVERYDAY ALL DAY JIMMY!!!! WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND….. AND SOMEDAY THESE PEOPLE WILL BE CAUGHT… CONVICTED… AND THEN YOU WILL HAVE YOUR PEACE :)) I love you to the moon and back HUGS UR BABY SIS ….
Pen oxox
i have seen nothing on whether or not they found anything on the farm nearly Ely. Also, he and Kristina were divorced….. so when he went missing was he dating someone…. living with her? If yes then was that place searched… girlfriend questioned?? If he had a girlfriend, then why was it his sister that reported him missing? Hopefully something was found with in the stuff that Robbins burned.
Investigators have been searching the grounds of a farm near Ely with the help of a forensics team that specializes in finding human remains. They have not said yet whether anything has been found. Link to Cedar Rapids Gazette article here:
https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/forensic-team-searches-at-home-linked-to-missing-marion-man-20150507
Miss you everyday JB…..you haven't been forgotten. They will be brought to justice….soon.
Lisa, James Booher’s case is listed with NamUs (findthemissing.org) but for some reason this case is restricted where one has to have an account and log in to view the information. It’s listed at:
I do not understand why this person is not listed in the national missing persons database. Every person that is missing in IA should be listed there, but many aren’t. ANY member of the family can enter a person into the database!! If he is presumed deceased and his body is found in another state’s jurisdiction, he could be matched to the unidentified person much faster!! http://www.findthemissing.org
Lisa, not sure what happened to the link I’d posted on my April 3, 2015 response, but you probably already know that findthemissing.org is now NamUs.gov. Melissa Gregory with NamUs wrote me May 11, 2016 and said she was finally able to get his info published on their site, and would be working with LE to enhance his case. The link to Booher’s NamUs page was added in the Sources section on Booher’s ICC page once Melissa added the case. You can find it at: https://www.namus.gov/MissingPersons/Case#/27721
Thanks for your dedication to this case, and hope you have a nice Easter weekend. All best, Jody