Julie Ann Boxley tried to light her then-husband, James Boxley, on fire, authorities said. In a separate case, she killed Glenn Andrews via arson, they said. (Screenshot: WLUC)
A woman facing trial for allegedly trying to set her husband on fire is now accused of killing a well-known butcher shop owner in an arson.
Julie Ann Boxley, 52, was close to her alleged victim. She was the live-in caretaker of the wife of the slain victim, Glenn Andrews, 72, according to WLUC.
Boxley was first charged in Alger County, Michigan, with trying to douse her then-husband, James Boxley. He testified in a preliminary hearing in August that he woke up to the feeling of a “cold liquid” poured on him, according to WMTV.
“I didn’t know exactly what was happening because I just came out of a deep sleep,” he said. “It was a small flame. I could see it on top of me, and all of the sudden, I realized what was going on.”
He said he put out the fire, and his wife continued to make threats.
“I am looking at her like, ‘What is going on here?”” he said. “And then she took a book of matches, and she was lighting the matches and throwing them at me, and all she would say is ‘I hate you.’”
Defense lawyer Jennifer France maintained her client lived with mental health challenges, and her team was working to figure out if those contributed to this case. She was recently found competent for trial.
Then there’s the Andrews case. The 72-year-old was the well-known owner of Glenn’s Smokehouse, a butcher’s shop in Ishpeming.
“He’s great and always helping,” his adoptive son, Dennis, told WLUC. “Worked us a little hard, but he was a good man.”
The family said their history with Boxley dates back to when she worked as a caretaker for Andrews’ wife, Linda. She left for Alger County, Andrews’ daughter Jill said. Then Jill said Boxley appeared on her father’s front porch one day and asked for a job.
“And he said yes, and she said I also need a place to live, and we thought, ‘This is great,’” Jill told the outlet.
The family was stunned to learn Boxley was the suspect, Andrews’ daughter-in-law Melissa said.
“When the detective told us all the information that he had and then laid it all out for us, I was completely beside myself,” she said. “I couldn’t believe that a person like that, that was so invested in this family, would do that to them. I was just, yeah … unbelievable.”
Boxley is scheduled for arraignment in Marquette County for a count each of first-degree murder and first-degree arson on Nov. 17.
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