NEWS
Howard gets new indictments; Cole joins DA’s investigative team
By BARBARA GREEN
[email protected]
Ricky Dale Howard, a person of interest in the spring 2015 disappearance of Caleb Diehl, was indicted this week on 15 new felony counts that include indecency with a child connected with Diehl and 12 counts of possession of child pornography with unknown victims.
District Attorney Casey Polhemus said the indictment was issued by the grand jury in a special Tuesday session.
The 57-year-old Nocona man has been serving prison time in the Hamilton Unit of the state prison system in Bryan since June 2016 when he pled guilty to possession of firearms by a felon. He received five years on the 11 counts. As a convicted felon for federal bank fraud it is illegal for him to possess firearms.
Howard was up for parole consideration earlier this summer, but it was denied in July after he was indicted in April on two counts of indecency with a child sexual contact and 34 counts of child pornography.
Thus far in the investigation that began with the search for Diehl on April 1, 2015, Howard has been indicted in sexual indecency cases involving three male victims, including Diehl and two others. (See the related timeline story).
Howard has since moved to the Robertson Unit in Abilene where he may serve out the remainder of the five-year term which ends in 2021.
New indictment
The first three counts in Tuesday’s indictments involve missing teen Caleb Diehl said Polhemus. It is one count of first degree felony indecency with a child sexual contact and two counts of second degree felony indecency with a child by exposure.
The indictment states the alleged incidents occurred on March 15, 2011. Polhemus says evidence in all these cases surfaced during the examination of of Howard’s computer seized during an earlier search.
Polhemus said this was another “cog” in the wheel as the investigators continue to plug away at these cases, including Diehl’s disappearance.
“It links him with Caleb, but we can’t prove anything other than what is stated at this time. We will continue pursuing the investigation,” said the DA.
The rest are 12 counts of second degree felony possession of child pornography.
Prosecution
The 97th District Attorney has gained some assistance from an experienced prosecutor as former longtime DA Tim Cole has joined the investigation team as an assistant DA.
Read the full story in the weekend News.
By BARBARA GREEN
[email protected]
Katie Boggeman had high aspirations even in kindergarten, where she told her teacher she wanted to be a Supreme Court Justice.
She laughs about that memory today and is not sure what made her pick that profession, but it was omen for the future as Boggeman began her official term as 97th District Attorney this week.
The Clay County resident won the March Republican Party Primary defeating DA Casey Hall and was not challenged in the general election planning for a Jan. 1, 2025 start; however, after the outgoing DA was indicted on theft charges those plans changed. So far she has been sworn in once after Hall agreed to a suspension and a second time when Hall resigned and the governor appointed Boggeman to fill the interim. She looks to the Jan. 1 ceremony as the “third time charm.”
The 44-year-old Boggeman has been married to Joe Mac Boggeman since 2015. The couple is raising two children in the Four Corners area of Clay County, where Joe Mac’s family is from. She calls herself a country girl at heart and always knew they would make their home in a rural area.
Boggeman grew up on a horse ranch in California where she showed livestock and competed in numerous horse disciplines as a youth. She grew up in the rodeo world and earned her first queen title at the age of 12. It was the start of a “queening journey,” that peaked with the Miss Rodeo USA from the International Professional Rodeo Association in 2004. She believes those experiences helped form the person she would become, as she traveled across the country and Canada at the age of 24.
Read the full feature in the weekend Bowie News.
Top Photo: Katie Boggeman, 97th district attorney, stands with her staff. (Left) Brandi Shipman, Wes Wallace, Paige McCormick, Boggeman, Todd Lewis and Jackie Welsh. The new DA is excited to have a full staff onboard and ready to go in 2025. (Courtesy photo)
While all of these elected officials were incumbents, they took the oath of office for a new term on Jan. 1, 2025. They are: Constable One Harvey Johnson, Constable Two Jerry DeMoss; County Attorney Clay Riddle; Tax Assessor-Collector Kathy Phillips; Sheriff Marshall Thomas; County Judge Kevin Benton administered the oath; Commissioner Three Mark Murphey and Commissioner One Roy Darden. (Photo by Barbara Green)
Jan. 1, 2025 is the first day of a new elected term for many Montague County officials. There will be a swearing-in ceremony at 9:30 a.m. on Jan. 1 in the courthouse annex.
The public is invited to attend with refreshments to follow.
Officials being sworn in are: Sheriff Marshall Thomas, County Attorney, Commissioner One Roy Darden, Commissioner Three Mark Murphey, Constables Jerry DeMoss and Harvey Johnson and Tax Assessor Kathy Phillips.
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