Convicted murderer Bosley to be sentenced today

Venango County, Pennsylvania (EYT) – David Allen Bosley, convicted of all seven criminal counts in the assault of 76-year-old Suzette Nellis, will be sentenced Wednesday morning.

Gavin Fish contributed to this article.

Court documents indicate that the 61-year-old David Allen Bosley The trial is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Wednesday, July 3, in Venango County Central Court, with Presiding Judge Matthew T. Kirtland presiding.

He was convicted of the following charges on May 15, 2024:

• First Degree Murder, H1
• Second Degree Murder, H2
• Forced rape, crime 1
• Kidnapping to facilitate a crime, crime 1
• Kidnapping with intent to cause injury or terror, felony 1
• Aggravated indecent assault, forced restraint, felony 2
• Abuse of a corpse, offense 2

Background to the case:

According to a statement released Thursday, April 4, by the Venango County District Attorney's Office, David Allen Bosley, 59, of 1605 West First Street, Oil City, was taken into custody without incident by Lt. Cory Ruditis of the Oil City Police Department and Trooper Adam Haun of the Pennsylvania State Police.

He was charged with the following crimes: manslaughter, rape by force, aggravated indecent assault, kidnapping and mistreatment of a corpse.

Marcy Suzette Nellis' body was discovered on the morning of March 27, 2023, after she was reported missing the night before. Searches were unsuccessful throughout the evening and into the early hours of the morning.

The Pennsylvania State Police Aviation Unit initially located the body. First responder Officer Andrew Falco noticed abnormalities at the scene and secured the scene to allow the Oil City Police Department, Pennsylvania State Police and Officer Hilary Latshaw of the Pennsylvania State Police Forensic Services Unit to arrive and collect evidence.

An investigation into the death was immediately launched by the Oil City Police Department, in conjunction with the Pennsylvania State Police and detectives from the Venango County District Attorney's Office.

The Oil City Police Department and Pennsylvania State Police have taken immediate security measures beginning Monday, March 27, 2023, according to the release.

The measures included the presence of marked and unmarked vehicles around the bike path, as well as the placement of undercover officers on the bike path and at various other locations and the installation of surveillance cameras at several locations, including near the suspect's residence.

On Wednesday, March 29, 2023, an autopsy was performed in Erie County, which concluded that the cause of death was asphyxia due to manual strangulation and that the victim had been sexually assaulted.

The suspect in this case became a person of immediate interest, and the evidence collected, which included a rape kit, was delivered to the Pennsylvania State Police Crime Lab in Erie on Friday, March 30, 2023. The Erie Crime Lab worked throughout the weekend, prioritizing this investigation for the safety of the community.

After the serological testing was completed at the Erie Crime Lab, the evidence was transferred to the Pennsylvania State Police Crime Lab in Greensburg on Monday, April 3, 2023, where forensic scientists completed DNA profiling. Again, with the cooperation of that lab and the priority given to this investigation, the results were received on Thursday, April 6, 2023, linking the suspect to the crime.

The arrest of David Allen Bosely immediately followed.

Third day of the David Allen Bosley trial:

On the third day of a trial scheduled to last five days, Bosley was found guilty and chose not to testify in his own defense.

District Attorney Shawn White and First Assistant District Attorney Kyle Peasley prosecuted the case against Bosley. Assistant Public Defender Eric Padin and Chief Public Defender Jeffrey Misko defended him.

Presiding Judge Matthew T. Kirtland presided over the trial.

The third day of the trial began at exactly 9 a.m. on May 15, when a deputy knocked on Judge Kirtland's chambers door. Kirtland appeared moments later and asked everyone to be seated.

He then addressed Attorney Padin. “Master, I have received your request. Does the attorney wish to address you?”

The four lawyers approached the bench and talked among themselves out of earshot of those present in the room.

After the discussion, Bosley was brought to the stand and sworn in before Judge Kirtland, who then asked him if he wished to testify on his own behalf. He declined. Judge Kirtland informed him that he had an absolute right to testify or not and asked him if he had been forced to make this decision or if he had been promised something in exchange for his not testifying. He answered in the negative.

The jury was then summoned and seated at 9:10 a.m. Judge Kirtland then asked attorney Padin if he was ready to present his case. Padin stood up and said, “The defense is resting.”

Attorney Padin's closing argument began at 9:11 a.m. by reminding the jury that they should find his client not guilty if the Commonwealth had not proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt. He then shared seven elements that he said constituted reasonable doubt.

First, he said, Ms. Nellis “did not act lightly. She fought.” His argument seemed to indicate that his client could not have subdued Ms. Nellis alone.

Second, Attorney Padin said there was no evidence that Ms. Nellis was knocked unconscious.

Third, he said there were no signs of a struggle and that Ms Nellis' body showed that she had simply been rolled over the edge of the embankment on which she was found.

Fourth, Padin said there was no sign of trauma to Ms. Nellis's intimate area, and serologist Christopher Johns, who testified on the second day of the trial, could not say whether the semen found at the scene came from inside Ms. Nellis or from her body.

Fifth, Attorney Padin told the jury that, according to medical examiner Eric Vey, it would have taken between four and six minutes to asphyxiate Ms. Nellis. He noted that Bosley's roommate told police, “We dragged the body.”

Sixth, he told the jury that the DNA traces that could not be positively identified could have come from the roommate. He also said that only a five-centimeter piece of Ms. Nellis's pants had been sent for DNA testing, saying it was possible that another man's sperm had ended up on the garment.

Finally, Attorney Padin told the jury: “You are the sole judges of the facts of this case.”

He then reiterated that it was possible that another man had committed the crime. His final statement was completed at 9:18 a.m.

District Attorney Shawn White began his speech by saying, “They want you to see the pink elephant in the room and look around it.”

“The DNA evidence you had was associated with a name in three different ways,” added attorney White.

Mr. White continued his statement by emphasizing the professionalism and expertise of the witnesses who testified for the prosecution, noting that officers from the PSP Forensic Services Unit found Ms. Nellis' missing small earring at a crime scene overgrown with vegetation. He called the discovery “almost miraculous.”

“When people commit crimes, they don’t want to get caught,” White told the jury. “Forensic scientists are there to help you be the eyewitness.”

Mr White told the jury that Ms Nellis's trousers, which were pulled down to her thighs when her body was found, appeared to have been pulled up clumsily. He reminded them that Bosley's seminal fluid was found when technicians administered a “rape kit” before Ms Nellis' autopsy, that his blood was under her fingernails and that his DNA was on her neck.

Attorney White also referred to Dr. Vey's estimate that it would have taken four to six minutes to kill Ms. Nellis by strangulation.

“How long did it take him to strangle her to death? That's your premeditation.”

Mr. White's closing statement was completed at 9:38 a.m.

Judge Kirtland then instructed the jury of five men and seven women on the applicable law and gave them instructions. He sent them back to deliberate at 10:20 a.m.

At 11:25 a.m., the media were informed that the jury had reached its verdict. It was read out in court at 11:40 a.m. The jury was disbanded at 11:48 a.m.

Judge Kirtland ordered that a pre-sentencing investigation be conducted as soon as possible. He ordered that the defendant be held without bail in the Venango County Jail.

Bosley's sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 3, 2024, at 9:00 a.m., in Courtroom 1 of the Venango County Courthouse.

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The disturbing crime story of David Allen Bosley