QUESTION: Whatever happened to Justin Boulay, the convicted murderer from Illinois who was released on parole after serving 12 years in prison and moved to Hawaii?
ANSWER: Boulay continues to meet with his parole officer in Hawaii during regularly scheduled visits and has maintained steady employment, said Tommy Johnson, administrator of the Hawaii Paroling Authority.
“He’s doing fine,” Johnson said. “He’s compliant with all terms and conditions of his parole. He’s never tested positive for illegal drugs, always shown up for his visits and he’s employed.”
Boulay’s parole officer also makes unannounced visits to his home and workplace, he added.
Boulay’s parole ends Nov. 16, three years after he was released from prison, meaning “he’ll be free from parole supervision in the state of Hawaii,” Johnson said. The date was set by the state of Illinois.
In 1998, the 20-year-old Boulay used a telephone cord to strangle 18-year-old Andrea Faye Will, who had broken up with him a few months earlier. Both were students at Eastern Illinois University.
He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to 24 years, but served only 12 at Danville Correctional Center because of an old Illinois law that took off one day of prison time for every day of good behavior. Current truth-in-sentencing laws require violent offenders to serve at least 85 percent of their sentences.
Boulay’s release prompted vigils in Hawaii and Illinois in Will’s honor.
Patricia Rosenberg, Will’s mother, said in 2010, “For myself and my family, it has been a complete and total injustice since the day he was arrested. It’s just such a slap in the face.”
Boulay arrived in Hawaii the day after his release as part of the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision. The compact allows offenders to live in communities where they would have the most support and most likely success at being rehabilitated.
City Prosecutor Keith Kaneshiro had asked the Paroling Authority to reject Boulay’s transfer request to Hawaii, but was denied.
Boulay moved in with his wife, an assistant professor at the University of Hawaii’s John A. Burns School of Medicine, whom he married in 2007 while incarcerated in Illinois.
A Star-Advertiser article said the state had negotiated to impose geographical restrictions on Boulay, barring him from stepping on college campuses. He also is under a travel restriction and must obtain permission from Illinois to travel outside Hawaii.
———
This update was written by Marcie Kagawa. Suggest a topic for “Whatever Happened To …” by writing Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-210, Honolulu 96813; call 529-4747; or email cityeditors@staradvertiser.com.
