Photo of Michelle Boat being cross examined by Marion County Attorney Ed Bull on May 10th, 2021. Photo by Court TV/Pool Reporter.
Michelle Boat, 56, of Pella, was found guilty of First Degree Murder for the May 18th, 2020 killing of Tracy Mondabaugh. On today’s program, listen to reaction from Marion County Attorney Ed Bull, Assistant County Attorney Jared Harmon, Pella PD Lt. Shane Cox, and Eyewitness Julie Kuiper, as well as key moments from the courtroom.
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Photo of Michelle Boat being cross examined by Marion County Attorney Ed Bull on May 10th, 2021. Photo by Court TV/Pool Reporter.
Michelle Boat took the stand Monday in defense of her killing of Tracy Mondabaugh, attempting to convince the jury that the First Degree Murder charge is too severe.
Attorney Jill Eimermann: “In the opening statement I had said that you were not a scorned woman, at some point did you use the word scorned in your interview with police?”
Boat: “I did, I did…because he just threw me away like trash, and like I’d never been his wife, like I didn’t have his two kids, like he never loved me he looked right through me and everything, it was horrible.”
Photo of Michelle Boat being cross examined by Marion County Attorney Ed Bull on May 10th, 2021. Photo by Court TV/Pool Reporter.
Michelle Boat took the stand today in defense of her killing of Tracy Mondabaugh, attempting to convince the jury that the First Degree Murder charge is too severe.
Attorney Jill Eimermann: “In the opening statement I had said that you were not a scorned woman, at some point did you use the word scorned in your interview with police?”
Boat: “I did, I did…because he just threw me away like trash, and like I’d never been his wife, like I didn’t have his two kids, like he never loved me he looked right through me and everything, it was horrible.”
Photo by Court TV (Pool Reporter)
The trial of Michelle Boat resumes in Marion County District Court Monday, with the defense scheduled to present its case that the 56-year-old Pella resident is not guilty of First Degree Murder, but instead of a lesser charge.
Boat admitted through attorneys that she was responsible for the death of Tracy Mondabaugh on May 18th, 2020, but is arguing that she did not intend to kill the girlfriend of her estranged husband Nicholas. As part of Friday’s testimony by Marion County Sheriff’s Lt. Reed Kious, Marion County Attorney Ed Bull presented a voicemail left by Michelle on her husband’s cell phone in March of 2020, directed at Tracy. Profanity from the audio has been censored:
Marion County Attorney Ed Bull tells KNIA/KRLS news that there is a new twist to a telephone scam that has been common in the past. In the past, the caller would pretend to be an attorney saying that a grandchild has been arrested and needs money for court fees, fines or bail. The “attorney” then sent a courier to retrieve the money. Now people trying to scam the elderly will say the grandchild was in an accident that caused injury to a third party. They will request the person withdraw a large sum of money, and await further instructions. In some cases the instructions will be to FedEx the money, or they will come to the person’s home to retrieve it.