Yelm resident Vanda Boone

Jeremy Pawloski reported for The Olympian:
“The Thurston County Prosecuting Attorneys Office will recommend that Bernard Keith Howell spend more than 26 years in prison for Vanda Boones homicide, according to his negotiated plea deal. A conviction for first-degree murder carries a mandatory minimum 20-year prison sentence, the plea deal states.

Howells sentencing date has not been set, according to a clerk at the Thurston County Prosecuting Attorneys Office. Deputy Prosecuting Attorney James Powers could not be reached for comment Friday.

Boone, 60, died after her throat was slit on the Yelm-Tenino Trail, according to the Thurston County Sheriffs Office. Blunt-force injuries to her head and neck and asphyxia resulting from strangulation also contributed toward her death, Thurston County Coroner Gary Warnock has said. Detectives have said they think Boone was walking or riding a bike when she was killed.

Boone had moved to the Yelm area from New York City in March 2010 to work as a massage therapist. She worked at Radiance Herbs and Massage in Olympia and studied at Ramthas School of Enlightenment.”

Read more about Boone’s murder, Sunday, August 8, 2010.