Reese Killing Retold Suspect Says Cousin, Not Him, Was Shooter

It took three stories and more than five hours before Kevin Boot settled on a version about his involvement in the Felicia Reese killing, according to Spokane sheriff’s detectives.

After his arrest, Kevin Boot, 18, was interviewed at length by detectives, who said at various times he named three different people as his accomplice.

When detectives doubted he was telling the truth, Kevin Boot finally put his head on the table and admitted being with his cousin, Jerry Boot, the night the 22-year-old Spokane woman was murdered.

He said it was Jerry Boot’s idea to kidnap Reese and steal her car at gunpoint. Kevin Boot told detectives he was just following his cousin’s orders.

He felt threatened because Jerry Boot, 17, had a gun - the one he used a half-hour later to shoot Reese in the head, Kevin Boot claimed.

“‘I am not the shooter,”’ Detective Jim Hansen remembered Kevin Boot saying. “‘Jerry is the one who shot her, not me.”’

Spokane County Superior Court Judge Tari Eitzen on Friday decided Kevin Boot’s statements can be used at his upcoming trial. She already decided Thursday that Jerry Boot’s confession will be allowed as evidence in his trial.

The Boots are charged with first-degree aggravated murder and face life in prison without parole. They cannot be given the death penalty because they were minors when the crime was committed.

In court Friday, Hansen recalled Kevin Boot’s testimony after his arrest Dec. 27, 1994.

Aside from the fact the youths each blame the other for masterminding the crime, their stories are nearly identical:

Each accuses the other of planning the carjacking and ordering Reese into the back seat of her car at the Sheraton-Spokane Hotel.

Each claims to have been the driver while the other was the gunman.

Each insists it was the other who took money from Reese’s purse. They agree it was $43.

Each denies ever pointing the .380-caliber handgun at Reese or pulling the trigger, although they agree four shots were fired.

Another detective who interviewed Kevin Boot said he described his cousin as “a real hothead” who bragged about being involved in gang shootings when he lived in Seattle.

Jerry Boot probably shot Reese to impress his cousin, Kevin Boot told detectives.

Kevin Boot was “worried and upset,” Detective Mike Massong said in court. “He stated he felt he’d be sitting in prison a long, long time.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo