Woman who killed boyfriend gets 60 years

January 31, 2006

MARY AMES\Frontiersman reporter

PALMER -A Palmer Superior Court judge gave a 60-years-to-serve prison sentence Friday to a woman who confessed to pouring gasoline through the Finger Lakes house she shared with her wheelchair-bound boyfriend before igniting a blaze that killed him, Palmer Assistant District Attorney Richard Payne said Monday.

Niobie Ewing, 32, in July accepted a plea agreement to second-degree murder and second-degree arson charges, for killing Thomas Bourbeau, 56, on Aug. 1, 2004. She was originally charged with two counts of first-degree murder, three counts of second-degree murder, one count of first-degree arson, manslaughter, first-degree criminal mischief and first-degree endangering the welfare of a vulnerable adult, according to court records.

Leslie Heibert with the Office of Public Advocacy in Anchorage represented Ewing in the hearing before Judge Beverly Cutler.

According to charging documents, Ewing admitted to Alaska State Trooper investigators that she and Bourbeau were arguing in the house they shared off Schelin Spur Road, an argument also heard by Ewing's adolescent son.

The boy told investigators he heard his mother say during the argument, &#8220You want to die, m——f——?” and that Bourbeau responded by saying she didn't &#8220have the balls,” according to investigator reports.

Ewing then told her son to pack some clothes because they were leaving. Once they were outside, Ewing kicked a hole in the garage door and crawled through the hole to get a gas can, according to statements from Ewing and her son to investigators. Ewing told troopers she used the can to pour gasoline on Bourbeau, throughout the house, down the stairs and in the garage, trooper reports said.

The boy told troopers he heard Ewing tell Bourbeau to &#8220give me the money or I'll burn it down,” and Bourbeau's reply, &#8220You wouldn't dare,” according to court documents. When Ewing came outside again, the boy told troopers, she lit her purple lighter and dropped it in the gas.

First Ewing, and then Bourbeau, called a mutual friend, Michelle Walter, at about 7:30 p.m., according to the reports.

In her phone call, Ewing told Walter what she had done, and said, &#8220I can't believe I killed the son of a bitch,” the report stated.

Walter called 911 after she received a call from Bourbeau, who called while Ewing was still on the phone. Bourbeau told her Ewing had poured gas all over him and the house, the report said.

Contact Mary Ames at 352-2284 or mary.ames@frontiersman.com.