Accused killer sought drugs, advice before caught by police
After he is thought to have killed his 6-year-old cousin and before police arrested him, Ryan Bois tried to obtain ecstasy from a Dorchester drug dealer and advice on how to dispose of a body, calling a man who was later charged in the 2005 murder of two homeless men in Hingham, a prosecutor said.
New details emerged Monday about the events leading up to the August murder of Joanna Mullin in her grandmother's home in Weymouth. Bois, Mullin's cousin, is charged with sexually assaulting and murdering the girl in the home.
Bois, 20, wearing black rosary beads as a necklace over a white T-shirt and blue jacket, started at the floor as 13 different charges against him were read Monday in Norfolk County Superior Court.
Bois is charged with first-degree murder, two counts of rape of a child with force, home invasion, kidnapping, assault with a dangerous weapon for attacking a police officer, and various other charges in connection with the Aug. 4 murder.
Bois said nothing in court Monday beside mumbling "not guilty" when asked to enter his plea. He appeared to have a bruise on his right cheek.
With Norfolk Country District Attorney William Keating and relatives of Joanna Mullin in the audience, prosecutor Robert Nelson laid out the narrative of what investigators believe happened the night Joanna was murdered.
Nelson said Bois had contacted his and Mullin's grandmother Aug. 4 asking if he could come by her Weymouth home to pick up some things.
"That conversation ended without them making a specific appointment," Nelson said.
Nelson said Bois spent the rest of that day at a party in Weymouth where he was drinking. At around 10 p.m. that night, Nelson said Bois was driven by a friend to his grandmother's house on Randall Avenue, where the grandmother, Joanna and Joanna's brother were sleeping.
Bois cut through a window screen with a knife, entered the home, and committed the rape and murder, Nelson said. Bois is also charged with stealing cash, his grandmother's cell phone and her Ford Explorer, in which he stored Mullin's body.
It was at this point, Nelson said, that Bois called a drug dealer he knew in Dorchester to set up a meeting. Bois drove to Dorchester to try to buy ecstasy with money he had stolen from his grandmother. Nelson said Bois told the dealer: "Hey, I have some money to blow."
Nelson said Bois ended up purchasing marijuana and smoking it with the dealer.
Nelson also said Bois asked the dealer: "If you had a body to get rid of, how would you do it?"
Shortly afterwards, Bois headed back towards Weymouth. Nelson said during the drive Bois placed eight unanswered phone calls to James Winquist, one of two men charged in the 2005 slayings of David Lyons and William Chrapan, homeless men whose bludgeoned bodies were found in a bunker near Bare Cove Park in Hingham in 2005.
Four weeks after the murder, police arrested Winquist, 23, of Weymouth, and Eric Snow, 25, of Bridgewater, in the Hingham killings.
Nelson did not elaborate on the connection between Bois and Winquist or whether Mullin's murder led to Winquist's arrest. District attorney spokesman David Traub said such information was collected through a grand jury proceeding and will not be made public unless it's mentioned in court.
"The DA's office has no further comment relative to the relationship between Mr. Winquist and Mr. Bois," Traub said.
At about 1:15 a.m. the night of Joanna's murder, Weymouth Police officer Edward Hancock spotted Bois speeding in Weymouth and chased him into Quincy. Bois crashed his grandmother's Ford Explorer near East Howard Street and ran down the street with Hancock and his K-9 giving chase.
Nelson said Bois was begging Hanock to "shoot him in the face" and told Hancock "I'm a loser" after the police dog caught him trying to scale a stone wall.
Nelson also said Bois, who was on probation for a robbery at the time, identified himself by his nickname to Hancock, saying: "Officer Hancock, you know me. I'm 'Buddha,' Ryan Bois.'"
Bois is being held without bail at Bridgewater State Hospital, where he has undergone psychiatric evaluation. A status hearing is set for Oct. 31 and a status hearing for Jan. 8.
Jack Encarnacao of The Patriot Ledger (Quincy, Mass.) may be reached at jencarnacao@ledger.com.