PAULDING COUNTY, Ga. — A murder trial for Lacy Boles began on Wednesday nearly seven years after her husband, Daniel Akers, was shot and killed at their Paulding County home.
The Paulding County Sheriff’s Office arrested Boles in June 2020. Deputies originally responded to the couple’s home in Dec. 2019 after Boles called 911 and said that Akers shot and killed himself.
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As the investigation unfolded, the sheriff’s office said there were “inconsistencies” in Boles’ account. Investigators sent Akers’ body to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation crime lab, which later determined Akers’ cause of death was homicide, not suicide.
A jury later indicted Boles on murder and other charges.
WAS A SWIFFER USED AS BOOBY TRAP OR ALARM SYSTEM?
Prosecutor Jason Treadaway and Boles’ defense attorney Brian Steel delivered their opening statements on Wednesday.
Treadaway described Boles and Akers’ relationship as “volatile” and said the couple had been arguing over money in the days before the shooting. The prosecution said Akers was out the night before his death and returned home with a McDonald’s order just after midnight.
Treadaway said Boles set up a “booby trap” with a Swiffer mop against the front door to alert her when Akers returned home. The couple argued before Akers was shot and killed.
“One shot, one shot only. Why? Because that’s all that was needed to kill him. Ambushed, executed in his own basement,” Treadaway said.
In the defense’s opening statement, Steel argued that Akers had “not acting like himself” and that he became distant from his wife and children.
He said Boles texted her husband to not come home and that she set up the Swiffer as an alarm system. Steel said Boles tried to stop her husband from shooting himself and that they got tangled up.
“Lacey panics. She screams, ‘No, no!’ And she charges and lunges,” Steel said. “The gun goes off. He falls straight back.”
JURORS HEAR 911 CALL
The 911 call was played for the jury, who were instructed to listen to the recording and not go off the transcript.
In the call, you can hear Boles crying and the dispatcher trying to calm her down and get more information.
“I know he’s unconscious. I think he’s dead. I think he’s dead.”
“Ma’am, I can’t understand you.”
“You think he’s dead?”
“Yes. Oh my God...”
When the dispatcher asked where the gun was, Bowles said, “It’s right here. No, no, I don’t have it in my hand. No, it’s right here.”
The dispatcher asks Boles to turn her front porch light for first responders and stays on the call as they arrive.
DEPUTIES TESTIMONY
The jury also heard from Capt. Brent Miller, who was the first deputy on the the scene and a sergeant at the time
Miller said he found Boles crying and screaming for help when he arrived and that she directed him to the basement where her husband’s body was. Miller said he could smell McDonald’s in the room and saw the bag and cup.
Another deputy arrived and stayed with Akers’ body while Miller went to check on Boles and the children in the home.
“Just trying to keep them calm and helping her keep the kids calm,” Miller said.
On cross-examination, he said he did not remember whether Bowles had blood on her clothing.
John Curtis Beall, a former Paulding County jail employee who was in training to become a deputy, also responded to the scene with his training supervisor.
Beall said he saw blood near Akers’ face, on a gun in Akers’ hand and on the stair rail and wall. He also described the McDonald’s smell when he walked downstairs.
“It was very strong, as if, um, you were pulling through a drive-through and you just rolled the window down and they’re handing you your food. You can smell it predominantly,” he said.
The defense asked each witness if they were wearing body camera
Information from Day 1 of Testimony. You can watch the trial below.
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