U.P. woman closer to arson, homicide trial; blame for more fires to come says prosecutor

MARQUETTE COUNTY, Mich. (WJMN) — After a judge decided to push forward the case against a U.P. woman accused of starting a fire that left one man dead in Ishpeming last year, the Marquette County Prosecuting Attorney says she expects to reveal connections to several other arsons as the case advances to the circuit court.

Julie Boxley is charged with one count each of First Degree Arson and Homicide after a house fire mortally wounded Glenn Andrews on March 5, 2023.

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Boxley is also headed toward trial in Alger County for a 2021 incident where she is accused of lighting her ex-husband on fire. He was unharmed in that incident, as the fire was quickly extinguished.

Doorbell and cell phone videos were entered into evidence, and several private and government-affiliated fire investigators testified to what they knew—and didn’t know—about the fire’s origins.

Two police officers testified as to their experiences responding to the house fire call. Family and neighbors also testified to what they saw that night and knew about Andrews and Boxley.

What most parties agreed on was that the fire started in the early morning hours, and that Boxley and Andrews were found outside as flames engulfed the house and first responders arrived.

Andrews had severe burns on the upper half of his body, while Boxley was unscathed. Soon after, Andrews was flown to another hospital for treatment and intubated before dying of his injuries two weeks later.

Discrepancies arose when law enforcement and fire investigators told different accounts of what Boxley told them had happened the night of the fire, each explaining different variations in which Boxley or Andrews notices the smoke and alerts the other before Andrews escaped down a flight of stairs and out the back door, while Boxley exited through a window and onto a low roof before reaching the ground outside.

Questions were also raised about Andrews’ burns only being located on the top half of his body, and how he could have been burned that severely exiting out the back of the house, if the fire was most intense in the front.

Boxley’s attorney claimed Andrews may have returned inside to rescue one of the four pets inside, and that the fire may have been caused by an overloaded circuit from an overcrowded power strip in the living room.

When the hearing was over, Nelson told Local 3 “I think the judge hit the nail on the head when he summarized towards the end of the [hearing] that it’s very unlikely that Ms. Boxley’s statement about what had occurred actually did occur, such that she was completely unscathed from the home, but Mr. Andrews, unfortunately, suffered such severe burns that he passed away…so even though we may not have a confession in the case, we may not have a fire investigator who can say with 100% certainty that this is arson—there’s still enough evidence, in my opinion, to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.”

In her closing argument Nelson eluded to having more evidence against Boxley that she plans to introduce in Circuit Court. She confirmed to Local 3 that Boxley has been implicated in several other fires in the area.

“Certainly this will be explored more in circuit court,” said Nelson, “but it is a number that raises eyebrows in terms of—even to be involved in one fire in your lifetime is, you know, not everybody can say that. But the number of fires she’s been connected to, I think, is extremely suspicious.”

Boxley’s attorney Jeffrey Schroder disagreed, saying, “I think the decision to bind this over was somewhat of an emotional one. I mean we’ve got a courtroom packed with the public… I certainly don’t think it was based on the evidence, so I disagree with the decision.”

Schroder gave his opinion on the evidence Nelson has yet to introduce, saying, “it’s what’s called ‘other acts evidence,’ and it’s tangential or to the side of the elements of the crimes. So it’s just something they thing rounds out their story.”

“I think the big thing is,” said Schroder, “they think that that other evidence, the evidence on the side, is what’s going to win the day for them, but they still have to prove the elements and they’re not able to do it.”

This is a developing story. Find the latest updates with Local 3 on-air and online.

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