Kristi Cline Boshell was 44 when she was found dead from a gunshot wound to the head in her apartment at Crystal Lake Apartments in Utica, Michigan, in March 2018. The initial call to Shelby Township Police indicated a possible suicide, but officers at the scene and subsequent investigation found circumstances that led detectives to treat the death as a homicide.

Investigators focused on Kristi’s husband, 40-year-old Joshua Boshell. Search warrants and witness interviews uncovered a history of domestic disturbances. He was arrested and charged with first-degree murder and felony firearms violations; he denied the allegations and at arraignment claimed Kristi had attempted to take her own life. A jury later convicted him of second-degree murder after testimony from Kristi’s son, Robert Ewald, about past physical abuse. Joshua Boshell was sentenced to 31 to 50 years; his defense called the shooting an accident and filed an appeal, and in July 2020 a three-judge panel upheld the conviction and sentence.