Background: A section of the 5700 block of Route 287 in Delmar Township, Pennsylvania, where authorities say the shooting occurred (Google Maps). Inset: Penny Boom (GoFundMe).
A Pennsylvania woman was nearly decapitated by a shotgun blast in her home, and though authorities say her husband claimed the shooting was accidental, startling text messages may prove otherwise.
Kenneth Jerome Boom, 62, is charged with criminal homicide in the death of his wife, 61-year-old Penny Boom, according to court records reviewed by Law&Crime. He also faces charges of aggravated assault, recklessly endangering another person, and possession of an instrument of crime with intent.
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On Thursday, the couple was at their home on the 5700 block of Route 287 in Delmar Township, Pennsylvania. The rural area is located in the northern part of the state, some 30 miles from the New York border.
The couple was arguing that night, Pennsylvania State Police said. Police believe Kenneth Boom shot his wife on Thursday evening. A neighbor reportedly heard a “pop” coming from the direction of their house between 8 and 9 p.m.
A friend of the couple who was also their former neighbor said he got several concerning texts from Penny Boom that night, per an affidavit obtained by PennLive. “I told him I was going to leave and he said he would shoot me,” read one, along with, “Just so someone knows if anything happens to me is him.”
Kenneth Boom was also seemingly active on his phone. A different friend said the defendant tried to contact him 11 times between 3:19 and 4:34 a.m. before the friend responded at 4:40 a.m., authorities said. “I did something bad,” Kenneth Boom allegedly said, detailing that he shot his wife when they argued about their cats and she threatened to leave him.
The friend said he expected the suspect to use the word “accident,” but he didn’t. The friend told Kenneth Boom to call 911.
The defendant called 911 at about 5:15 a.m. on Friday and said he had shot his wife in the head as he was cleaning his 12-gauge shotgun, according to police. Arriving troopers said they noticed the smell of alcohol on Kenneth Boom’s breath and his speech was slurred.
Penny Boom was nearly decapitated in the living room near a 12-gauge shotgun shell casing, according to authorities.
Kenneth Boom demonstrated how he was cleaning the weapon when it went off and hit his wife, police said. When confronted about the former neighbor’s account of his wife’s messages, the suspect reportedly suggested the witness was manipulative, but conceded his wife said she would leave after he told her the cats had to go.
A GoFundMe set up for Penny Boom said she “was taken from us long before any of us were ready to say goodbye, at the hands of the man she shared her life and youngest daughter” with. It adds: “To say this was unexpected and beyond devastating is an understatement.”
“The horrific nature of the events that occurred make it especially hard to fathom, I’m unsure how any of us are supposed to move on from this,” the fundraiser, apparently written by another of the victim’s children, added. “My mom was loved by all who knew her and she loved so many of you within this community.”
The defendant had a preliminary hearing on Friday. He is scheduled to return to court on Aug. 11.
The post ‘I did something bad’: Man nearly blew wife’s head off with shotgun after she said she would leave him during argument, police say first appeared on Law & Crime.
