More charges for rape suspect

PALMER - A Wasilla man charged with being a felon in possession of a weapon has been hit with a handful of serious charges relating to rape allegations made prior to his arrest last month.

According to documents filed at the Palmer Courthouse, rape allegations began the investigation into Bobby Boyd, 71. Alaska State Troopers were summoned to his home at 6:38 p.m., June 7 by one of his neighbors.

"A 20-year-old female ran to her house naked and said that she was raped by 71-year-old Bobby C. Boyd. The female reported that she was held against her will for several days and was sexually assaulted," according to an affidavit Sgt. Michelyn Manrique filed in Boyd's case.

Troopers learned she'd actually been at Boyd's house for two days. On the first day, Boyd had fired a gun at her as she ran down his driveway. She managed to escape through a window in the loft of Boyd's cabin the second day.

When troopers went to talk to him, Manrique wrote, they noticed a bulge on his waistband.

"When investigators asked Boyd if he owned any weapons, Boyd said ‘no,'" Manrique wrote.

He said he had a gun, but put it at a friend's house. He said he stashed it in the woods. He said he wasn't going to show troopers where it was. At some point troopers learned Boyd was known to carry the gun in a duct tape holster in his pants, so they confronted him again about having the gun.

"Boyd became agitated and said he that he would kill himself if he had to go back to jail," and then admitted he had the gun on him, Manrique wrote. "Boyd said that he was a trained combat fighter and investigators were going to get hurt. Bobby Boyd reached for his waistband and was restrained by investigators."

They pulled a loaded 9mm with a round in the chamber out of a duct tape holster in his pants.

On his way to jail, Boyd allegedly told Trooper Abraham Garcia that he should have killed the officers.

In Palmer cases, Boyd has a 2006 conviction for being a felon in possession of a weapon and a 2004 conviction for harassment, which was plead down from an assault charge. An Anchorage case circa 2002 earned him his felon status. The charges were theft and making false statements on applications for unemployment benefits.

Boyd was charged with being a felon in possession of a weapon upon his arrest. The case went before a Palmer grand jury on Dec. 9, after which he was hit with more serious charges, including five unclassified felonies for which the penalty ranges as high as 99 years in prison.

He faces one count of sexual assault for each of a range of sexual activities he's accused of forcing on his victim, a count of assaulting Manrique for reaching for the gun, another for firing at his victim and kidnapping for keeping her against her will.

As of Thursday afternoon, Boyd was listed as an inmate at the Palmer Correctional Center near Sutton. He's next due in court in early February.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.