FILE 452 / 23 December 2023 / 71 MIN / express

Boobs, Butts & Cold Blooded Murder

Centre Hall, PennsylvaniaListen

The town

N ↑Town centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

We are going to Center Hall, Pennsylvania, that is dead center in the middle of Pennsylvania. about 0:03:41

History, in brief

Town note

Mid-19th century Scots-Irish and German families settled the area and laid the town out on a grid with a small central square.

about 0:05:01

Town note

Farming and chicken raising were the main activities, with Amish communities not far away.

about 0:05:15

1876

The Grange encampment grounds are the town's big attraction, and the Grange Fair has been held every year since 1876.

about 0:05:58

1874

The Grange Fair is an annual fair and camping event held in Centre Hall and Centre County each year since 1874, according to the fair's own claim.

about 0:08:20
All 10 history facts

Town note

Mid-19th century Scots-Irish and German families settled the area and laid the town out on a grid with a small central square.

about 0:05:01

Town note

Farming and chicken raising were the main activities, with Amish communities not far away.

about 0:05:15

1876

The Grange encampment grounds are the town's big attraction, and the Grange Fair has been held every year since 1876.

about 0:05:58

1874

The Grange Fair is an annual fair and camping event held in Centre Hall and Centre County each year since 1874, according to the fair's own claim.

about 0:08:20

Town note

The fair is typically held the last full week of August, and after the 140th fair it was announced that the next one would move a week earlier.

about 0:08:29

2020

There was no fair during the Spanish flu, during the Second World War, or in 2020.

about 0:08:40

Town note

An Emmy Award-winning documentary, The Grange Fair: An American Tradition, chronicled the fair.

about 0:08:49

Town note

Fair tents are 14 by 14 feet with a single four-outlet electrical box in one corner and no running water.

about 0:09:26

Town note

Tent locations are passed down through generations; after the waitlist passed 500 families, some of whom had waited 27 years, it was cancelled.

about 0:09:59

Town note

A tent spot is lost only for rules violations or for passing it up for two fairs.

about 0:11:00

The figures, as told

Money

Median home value$294,100
Median household income$63,854
All figures and comparisons, as told in 2023

Population

"1,496"

No direction stated.

As told in 2023 about 0:04:18

Median household income

"$63,854"

Comparison: "slightly below the national average". Direction: below.

As told in 2023 about 0:04:38

Median home price

"$294,100"

Comparison: "slightly below the average". Direction: below.

As told in 2023 about 0:04:38

The reviews

3.3 / 5 · average of 4

5 stars

“A family lived there for eight years and loved it; the commute is reasonable and it is away from the bustle of State College. It was mostly a dry town with little or no alcohol, the schools were great and the people friendly.”
about 0:06:07

4 stars

“A nice, quiet place close to State College with a good school district, though there is not much nightlife in town.”
about 0:06:52

3 stars

“The area is very rural, everyone knows everyone, which is sometimes great and sometimes not; the area is lovely and the people are great.”
about 0:07:26

1 star

“The people are selfish, greedy and rude, full of snobs, and it is a terrible place.”
about 0:07:50

In Pennsylvania

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  1. Maybe A Serial Killer, Maybe A LiarSunbury, Pennsylvania · 12 April 201876 km / 47 miShow on map
  2. Cruel, Unusual & PointlessNewville, Pennsylvania · 11 June 202079 km / 49 miShow on map
  3. The Sinister MinisterJackson Township, Pennsylvania · 19 February 2026125 km / 78 miShow on map
  4. Moronic MurderersWashington Boro, Pennsylvania · 9 November 2024139 km / 86 miShow on map
  5. A Game Of Pray, Marry, KillLititz, Pennsylvania · 18 April 2019140 km / 87 miShow on map

The story

Centre Hall, Pennsylvania, is a town of 1,496 people in the middle of the state, about two hours and forty-five minutes from Pittsburgh. James calls it dead centre, surrounded by farmland and Amish country, with the Grange encampment grounds and its annual fair as the main attraction. The town's median household income is $63,854 and the median home price is $294,100, both slightly below the national average. Reviews describe a quiet, rural place close to State College, with good schools but little nightlife; one resident calls the people selfish, greedy and rude.

Samuel Sherman Boob, known as Sammy or Booby, was born in 1980 and grew up in the area. Friends said he could fix anything, restored cars, motorcycles and tractors, and cooked for everyone. He worked as a maintenance supervisor for the Centre County Solid Waste Authority and had four children, aged from six months to ten years in 2009. The marriage was strained by her compulsive shopping and debt, and she told people Sam was abusive, though nobody believed her.

Butts refused.

He asked whether she was sure she wanted the pond done, which the prosecution said meant a hit. She told him when Sam was in the garage and when he was cooking breakfast, asked him to make it quick, and said the children were sleeping. She also told him to go to church first so there would be witnesses. At 10.07 she called 911 and said she had heard a loud boom and found her husband on the garage floor. Sam had been shot once in the chest and then once in the back at close range with his own shotgun. The gun was found in woods near the house. They also found a text from 15 August in which she said she hoped her husband would soon be six feet under and that she would use his gun.

Her lover West Decker told police she had asked him to kill Sam, and Eddie, a pizza delivery man, said she had asked him too.

The case

Murder of Samuel Boob

Victims

Samuel Sherman Boob (29). Maintenance supervisor at the Centre County Solid Waste Authority, known as Sammy or Booby; husband of and father of four.

Accused and outcomes

As told in the episode, on 23 December 2023.

Accused

Accused

Outcome

Other people

West Decker. lover, who was asked to kill Sam and refused.
Eddie. Pizza delivery man whom also asked to kill her husband.
John Marack Jr.. cellmate, who testified that said a pond meant a hit.
Ben Cort. Sam's brother-in-law and friend, who recorded about five hours of conversations with .
Joy Ellen Sauter. Daycare co-worker who wrote a Medium article about .
Sam Boob Sr.. Sam's father, who testified that Sam would never hire anyone to build a pond.
Tom Holloway. Grange worker who saw and Butts leave and return on the morning of the shooting.
Michael McDaniel. Grange worker who saw and Butts leave and return on the morning of the shooting.
Lee Barrows. State trooper who thought seemed calm and was putting on a show.
Stacy Parks Miller. Centre County district attorney who prosecuted the case.
Nick Blanarik. defence attorney.

The timeline

  1. 1980 Samuel Boob is born.about 0:18:30
  2. May 4th, 1982 is born.about 0:18:28
  3. when he was 12 Sam begins restoring an old Chevy Nova, finishing it four years later.about 0:15:49
  4. about 2000 Sam, about twenty, marries soon after high school.about 0:18:32
  5. 2001 is in a car accident and suffers brain and back injuries.about 0:26:20
  6. 2008 Prosecutors later say had been trying since 2008 to find someone to kill her husband.about 0:57:08
  7. August 2009 meets at Snappy's convenience store and gives him her number. (Snappy's convenience store)about 0:28:15
  8. the following weeks Butts drives to meet at the Penns Cave sign on State Route 45 for sex. (Penns Cave sign)about 0:30:08
  9. August 15th, 2009 texts another man that she hopes her husband will be six feet under and says she will use his gun.about 0:43:15
  10. August 18th, 2009 asks Butts to help dispose of Sam Boob's body and offers him $5,000 of the insurance money; Butts refuses. (Company bunk house)about 0:32:11

Places and phrases

N ↑Town centre (approximate places)
Static locations; no street basemap. Places and details. OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles Data from OpenStreetMap.

Places in the story

Public places are marked on the map.

Heard in this episode