A Pennsylvania man pleaded guilty to felonious homicide Friday after murdering a chiropractor in November 2020, in addition to other charges.
Joseph O’Boyle, aged 23 was charged with criminal homicide, breaking and entering and possession of a criminal instrument. Similarly, he pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault, also reckless endangerment of another person, resisting arrest, and simple assault, for striking a detective who was investigating the crime Dr. James Sowa, of 64 years.
Sowa was found dead inside his home, which was also his chiropractic office on November 2, 2020 in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, a city located about 20 miles northeast of Philadelphia.
O’Boyle was Sowa’s patient two months before the tragedy, and blamed his chiropractor for making his jaw pain worse, family members said .
In retaliation, O’Boyle hit Sowa three times in the back of the head, causing a fractured skull, investigators said. While Sowa remained on the ground, O’Boyle repeatedly hit his victim with a blunt object.
In statements collected by Fox 29 Philadelphia, Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintrab described the crime as a “perverse poetic irony”, as O’Boyle attacked Sowa in the same area of the body for which needed treatment.
Following the murder, investigators issued a search warrant at O’Boyle’s home, causing the suspect to lunge at a detective and hit him several times in the head.
O’Boyle’s father confronted his son about Sowa’s death. In response, the young man “was agitated and started rubbing his jaw,” the district attorney said. The assailant then admitted Sowa’s murder to his father.
O’Boyle is expected to return to court on June 6 for a hearing to determine the extent of the murder. Meanwhile, the sentencing hearing will be set soon.
With information from Fox News