Man Gets Life in Prison for Elderly Woman's Murder

Jeff Boswell was found guilty of killing 87-year-old Blanche Griffin during a July 2013 break-in at the woman’s San Diego home

A man convicted of killing an elderly neighbor after breaking into her home nearly two years ago was sentenced to life in prison Friday.

Jeff Boswell, 45, was found guilty in the July 10, 2013 slaying of Blanche Griffin, 87. Boswell killed Griffin after breaking into her home on F Street in San Diego’s Golden Hill area.

A judge denied the defense’s motion for a new trial Friday and imposed the maximum sentence of life without the possibility of parole for Boswell, plus a consecutive 20 years and four months in state prison.

According to investigators, the elderly victim died as a result of suffering blunt force trauma to her head, neck and chest. She had also been strangled, according to prosecutors.

Boswell was charged with Griffin’s murder on Aug. 13, 2013. He had been arrested 10 days earlier for an unrelated liquor store burglary. Police soon linked him to Griffin’s murder.

According to prosecutors, Boswell had moved into his girlfriend’s duplex behind Griffin’s home prior to her murder. Boswell’s girlfriend told police she saw him looking “disheveled” on the day Griffin’s body was found. Prosecutors said Boswell’s DNA was found under Griffin’s fingernails and on her neck.

Just after Griffin’s murder, San Diego police issued an alert asking any witnesses with information on the case to come forward.

Investigators at the crime scene said several pieces of jewelry were missing from Griffin’s home, including two rings. Sketches of the missing rings were released in an effort to track down leads on the murder. Griffin’s computer had also been stolen from her home.

Prosecutors said Boswell had committed several burglaries in July 2013 to support a drug habit.
 

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