Arson, murder charges filed

April 19, 2005

KATE GOLDEN/Frontiersman reporter

PALMER - After months of delay, a Mat-Su woman who reportedly admitted murdering her invalid boyfriend last August by setting him and their house on fire has been indicted by a grand jury.

Niobie Lee Ewing, now 31, was charged Thursday, April 14, with two counts of first-degree murder, three counts of second-degree murder, and one count each of manslaughter, first-degree arson, first-degree criminal mischief and first-degree endangerment of the welfare of a vulnerable adult.

Ewing was first charged with first-degree murder and first-degree arson, court documents state. Palmer District Attorney Roman Kalytiak said Ewing rejected the prosecution's plea-bargain offer, though he declined to say what the offer was.

Ewing was arraigned on the additional charges April 18. A trial has been set for June 28, with a pre-trial hearing on May 23 at 10:30 a.m.

Thomas Bourbeau, 56, could not walk or navigate the stairs alone; he was confined to a wheelchair. Ewing was his girlfriend and his caretaker.

Alaska State Trooper Timothy Hunyon's affidavit said that Michelle Walter, a friend of the couple, received a call from both people on the evening of Aug. 1, 2004. As Ewing told her what she had done, call-waiting beeped: It was Bourbeau, reporting that Ewing had poured gas all over him.

Walter called troopers.

When they arrived, the Finger Lake Avenue house was on fire. Ewing and her son were standing outside, the affidavit declared.

Ewing's initial explanation for the smell of gasoline on her was that she might have fallen in some gasoline on the driveway or grass. But later, Ewing reportedly confessed to troopers that she splashed gasoline on Bourbeau and the house, and then set the gasoline on fire with her lighter.

"Ewing reported … that when she set the gasoline on fire she heard a 'whoosh' sound and saw a flash,'" Hunyor's affidavit said. "Ewing and her son then walked down the road to wait for their ride."

Ewing is being held at Hiland Mountain Correctional Facility, in lieu of $75,000 cash-only bail and a court-approved third-party custodian.

Contact Kate Golden at 352-2284 or kate.golden@frontiersman.com.