November 15, 2006 in City

Man guilty of ex-convict’s murder

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A 21-year-old Spokane man found himself caught up last year in a plot to kill an ex-convict, and now a jury has found him guilty of helping conspire and carry out that plan.

The jury of 10 women and two men deliberated for a day before finding Paul Livingston guilty Tuesday of planning and committing the murder of 48-year-old Kevin R. Boyle on Oct. 28, 2005.

Livingston faces a Jan. 11 sentencing date after he was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of Boyle.

Spokane police discovered Boyle’s body in an alley not far from the 2307 W. Mallon home where he had been invited to live by the group of people now charged in connection with his death.

As the jury concluded the trial of Livingston, attorneys worked Tuesday to select a jury for the trial of 33-year-old Andre Ramsey, also known as Andre Hester.

Andre Ramsey considered herself married to 34-year-old Sheri “Stormy” Ramsey, who police say pulled the trigger of the gun that killed Boyle on Oct. 28, 2005. Sheri Ramsey is scheduled for trial immediately after Andre Ramsey.

According to court records and an October 2005 Spokesman-Review jailhouse interview with Livingston, the case started when Andre and Sheri Ramsey invited Boyle to live in their home.

Boyle paid $300 rent and some time later began a sexual relationship with Sheri Ramsey, Livingston said in the interview. Andre Ramsey became jealous of that relationship, and she also learned that Boyle had spent 23 years in Washington prisons for prior felony convictions.

In his interview, Livingston said Andre and Sheri Ramsey did not want to give back Boyle’s money, and they feared what Boyle might do if they forced him to move out. So, Livingston said, the pair started planning to get rid of Boyle.

According to Spokane police Detective Kip Hollenbeck’s report, “Andre Ramsey and Sheri Ramsey decided that the only way to get rid of Boyle was to kill him.”

Livingston then joined several other friends and roommates in the daylong planning session, which resulted in the purchase of a .25-caliber pistol from a neighbor.

According to court records, Sheri Ramsey invited Boyle into the alley, but the gun failed to work on two successive tries to shoot him. Each time, she would return to her West Mallon home and ask Livingston for instructions on how to operate the gun, according to Livingston and court records.

On the third try, Sheri Ramsey invited Boyle into the alley on the promise of watching a sexually explicit DVD. On that attempt, the gun worked, according to court records.

In his jailhouse interview, Livingston said he accompanied Ramsey back to where she had shot Boyle. He appeared to be breathing, and Livingston said he saw Sheri Ramsey shoot Boyle a second time in the face.

After running back to the house, Livingston took Sheri Ramsey’s clothes and the gun and fled the scene, according to police reports.

Livingston was charged with first-degree murder because “he had knowledge and took part in the planning of the murder, witnessed Sheri Ramsey shooting the victim, then took steps to conceal and destroy evidence,” Hollenbeck wrote in his report.

Chief Deputy Criminal Prosecutor Jack Driscoll, who assisted Deputy Prosecutor Larry Steinmetz in the trial, said he was pleased with the guilty verdict.

Livingston’s defense attorneys, Ed Carroll and Dennis Dressler, argued during the trial that their client’s actions came under duress from the other conspirators. They had no comment after the verdict.

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