The cause of Angelea Schultz’s death was determined to be blunt force trauma to the head, Bannock County Coroner Kim Quick said this week, but the motive behind her murder will most likely never be known.

    Schultz’s boyfriend Boede Paul didn’t tell investigators, his family or friends.

    After Paul confessed last week to Bannock County detectives that he had killed Schultz and disposed of her body, he pulled a pistol on them and then engaged law enforcement officers in a six-hour standoff that ultimately resulted in a shootout and his death.

    Paul was shot three times by SWAT officers last Wednesday night, with two of those wounds being fatal, Quick said. No officers were injured.

    Paul’s brothers, Tyler Jenkins and Kasey Paul, were arrested, cited for obstruction and later released during the standoff.

    After being blocked by police barricades, they entered the scene through an irrigation canal in an attempt to reach Boede, who was parked in his pickup outside his house south of the Fort Hall Indian Reservation.

    The pair got within 25 feet of the pickup and tossed a photograph of the three of them together toward the vehicle. Tyler and Kasey were then arrested by the officers surrounding the scene.

    On Friday, Schultz’s body was found by search crews at a construction site where Boede had worked west of the Fort Hall town site. He had buried her 12 feet underground.

    Information provided by Boede during his confession to the detectives helped authorities locate and recover the 23-year-old mother of two. A bloodied baseball bat believed to be the murder weapon and other evidence was also collected at the construction site.

    Boede, 25, made a number of cell phone calls last Wednesday as he sat in his pickup surrounded by STAR (Special Tactics and Response) team members outside his home on Reservation Road in northern Bannock County. He apologized for what he had done and asked his family to take care of his 1-year-old son Owen, Boede’s father Bill Paul said.

    Schultz was Owen’s mother and she also had a 4-year-old daughter from a previous relationship.

    Bill was one of the last people Boede spoke to before exiting his pickup and firing on the STAR officers. Bill was on his way to the standoff scene when his son died.

    “He repeatedly told me to tell his mom how sorry he was,” Bill said. “And he asked us to take care of Owen. I told him that I loved him and then (police) cut off his phone.”

    Boede called members of Schultz’s family as well prior to ending the standoff via what Coroner Quick ruled was “suicide by cop.”

    Schultz’s mother, Maria Whorton, said she suspected that Boede was involved in the disappearance from the first day Angelea went missing, but declined to comment any further about the case.

    Bill Paul said there was no history of violence between the couple and Boede gave no reason for the killing.

    “He just said they had a fight,” Bill said.

    Kasey Paul also spoke to Boede last Wednesday and said his brother told him that Schultz’s death was an accident.

    “He said he never intended for any of this to happen, he never intended to hurt anyone,” Kasey said. “(Schultz) was a good girl.”

    Last Wednesday Tyler and Kasey attempted to talk their brother into surrendering via cell phone and at one point, Kasey said, they thought they had succeeded.

    “We thought we had done it,” Kasey said. “We don’t know what happened then.”

    Bannock County Sheriff Lorin Nielsen said that several times during the standoff it looked as if Boede would surrender.

    “At one point, we thought (Boede) was coming out without the gun,” Nielsen said. “But when the (brothers) came out of the canal, he thought he was being ambushed and jumped back in the truck.”

    Nielsen said all evidence collected at the standoff scene was turned over to the Pocatello Police Department, the agency assigned to investigate the shooting to make sure the STAR officers acted properly. Nielsen said eight officers from the Bannock County Sheriff’s Office and one from the Bingham County Sheriff’s Office — all members of the Southeast Idaho Special Tactics and Response team — remain on administrative leave pending that inquiry, which could take up to a month.

    “It was a lose-lose situation,” Nielsen said. “Both families are innocent victims here.”

    Nielsen said officers from the Idaho State Police and Chubbuck and Pocatello police departments are helping to patrol Bannock County until his eight officers are able to return to duty.

    The sheriff said authorities have collected forensic evidence from Boede’s home and he stressed the investigation into Schultz’s death is ongoing.

    Although Boede’s death has officially been listed as “suicide by cop,” Bill Paul said he’s not sure that was Boede’s plan.

    “I’m going to wait until I have all the facts to decide,” he said.

    Boede’s mother, Kathy Paul, said the Bannock County Sheriff’s Office has kept them in the loop throughout the investigation and detectives working the case have been very compassionate.

    “I feel no anger, no blame toward the officials involved,” she said.

    Schultz was reported missing Jan. 6 by a family member and Boede. Her car was found a week later at the Pine Ridge Mall. Nielsen said Boede was a person of interest in the case prior to his confession last week.

    At the time of her death Schultz was employed by the Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts store in Pocatello.

    In a statement released this week, Beth Shivak, a Jo-Ann corporate representative, said Schultz made a positive impact on the customers she served and her co-workers.

    “Our team is deeply saddened by the news of (Schultz’s) passing, and we send our condolences to her children and family at this most difficult time,” Shivak wrote.

    Shivak said the store would continue to cooperate with law enforcement if necessary and counseling services will be available to the store’s staff.

    Kathy Paul said Boede and Owen stayed at her home following Schultz’s disappearance. Boede, a Highland High School graduate who worked for the Jack B. Parsons construction company, posted missing person fliers and even helped search for Schultz.

    “(Boede) just said he didn’t want to be alone,” Kathy added.

    Schultz and Boede were involved in an on-and-off again relationship for the past three years. In fact, the couple was not together at the time Owen was born, but Boede was given primary custody of his son.

    In November Schultz moved back into Boede’s Reservation Road house and Kathy said things seemed to be working out well.

    “There was a love there,” she said. “They tried to be a family for Owen.”

    Kathy and Bill Paul were in contact with Schultz’s family following the standoff and expressed their deepest condolences.

    “Something just went terribly wrong that night,” Kathy said about Schultz’s death. “Whatever happened that night was tragic. I know in my heart that neither he or (Schultz) wanted this to happen. He got scared and he could see no way out.”

    Boede’s aunt, JoAnn Clark, added, “This is just all so hard to believe. … He made a lot of apologies to a lot of people that day (of the standoff) because he couldn’t live with what he had done.”

    Kathy said her tight-knit family has received a huge amount of support from the community, friends and extended family.

    “I know Boede is in a better place now,” she said. “He would not have wanted his son to grow up with a father who was in prison for the rest of his life.”

FYI

    • Funeral services for Boede Paul will be held Wednesday at 11 a.m. at Wilks Funeral Home on West Chubbuck Road in Chubbuck.

    • Funeral services for Angelea Schultz will be held at Colonial Funeral Home on South Fourth Avenue in Pocatello at 11 a.m. Thursday.