Woman shot to death was part of case that led judge to quit

Judge Joseph Boeckman (Photo from Wynne Progress provided by JDDC.)

Published September 21, 2016

The woman who was killed in an apparent murder-suicide near Wynne on Tuesday had been the subject of an investigation that led to the recent resignation of Cross County District Court Judge Joseph Boeckmann.

Crystal Avellino and Bobby Wright were found dead at midmorning Tuesday in the driveway of a home at 3208 Highway 64, Jonesboro television station  KAIT reported.

Mr. Wright was probably the shooter, according to Cross County Sheriff J. R. Smith. The bodies and a .40 caliber pistol were sent to the state crime lab, KAIT reported. Sheriff Smith did not return calls to AMP.

As Arkansas Money & Politics reported in two stories earlier this month, Judge Boeckmann had officiated in cases that involved both Crystal Avellino and Anthony Avellino after January 2009, the JDDC reported, although he had “maintained an intimate, sexual relationship with Anthony Avellino” since approximately 2001.

Mr. Boeckmann resigned on May 9 after the JDDC charged him with multiple violations of the state’s Code of Judicial Conduct. Many of those charges included allegations that might constitute state and federal crimes, said David Sachar, director of JDDC. Mr. Boeckmann has denied any wrongdoing.

Judge Boeckmann’s multilayered relationship with Ms. Avellino goes back several years. Her brother Anthony was a client of Mr. Boeckman’s when he was in private practice. In later years, Mr. Avellino managed apartment complexes and rental houses that Mr. Boeckman owns, the JDDC found. And Mr. Avellino was an “intimate partner” of the judge, according to the JDDC.

Ms. Avellino was connected to the judge in other ways. One of Judge Boeckmann’s nephews, Charles “Chuck” Carter,” fathered a child with Ms. Avellino, according to the JDDC.

Ms. Avellino had at least one other daughter. No information was available about the fate of the daughters on Wednesday.

In another connection, Ms. Avellino worked for Paulette McClanahan, a sister of Judge Boeckmann who owned Wynne Elder Care, according to the statement of allegations the JDDC filed against the judge in November 2015.  Mr. Boeckmann reportedly contributed “several thousand dollars each year” to Wynne Elder Care.

In September 2014, a prosecutor charged Crystal Avellino with three felony counts of theft of property and three felony counts of abuse of an endangered or impaired person.

A judge set her bail at $50,000. When Ms. Avellino appeared before Judge Boeckmann, he reduced her bail to an “OR” bond, allowing the court to release her on her own recognizance without posting cash with the court or a bondsman. Judge Boeckmann, therefore, reduced a $50,000 bail to zero for the mother of his niece.

At the time Judge Boeckmann reduced Ms. Avellino’s bail, he did not disclose his personal relationship with Ms. Avellino’s brother, Anthony Avellino, according to the JDDC complaint.

As a caregiver in the employ of Judge Boeckmann’s sister and Wynne Elder Care, Ms. Avellino assisted elderly clients in their homes. She was accused of stealing approximately $30,000 from Luther and Winifred Sigman, according to the JDDC.

“She got them to give her installments of approximately nine-thousand dollars a pop, and she did that three times,” an investigator told AMP on Wednesday.

Under federal law, any withdrawal of more than $10,000 from a bank, the bank must report it.

While the criminal case against Crystal Avellino was being investigated, the JDDC subsequently reported, “Boeckmann allowed, either overtly or implicitly, family members to use his judicial position to attempt to influence” the outcome of the investigation of charges against him.

Despite the JDDC’s report, no criminal charges have been filed against Mr. Boeckmann. The Arkansas Supreme Court’s Office of Professional Conduct, which reviews the fitness of attorneys to practice law, has taken no public action.