Other adoptive parents pleads guilty murder former foster

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Subject: Unfortunate story Boss wife also pleads guilty foster death
From: (Fern5827)
Date: 11/13/2003 10:19 AM Eastern Standard Time
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Mother pleads guilty in killing
Lisa Green admits charges of aiding her ex-husband in the death of their son,
Timothy Boss.
By MARK SIEBERT
Register Staff Writer
11/11/2003


Le Mars, Ia. - The former Lisa Boss on Monday admitted helping beat her
10-year-old son, Timothy, who was buried in the family's basement.
She pleaded guilty to charges that will put her in prison until 2020.
The 35-year-old Remsen mother had been charged with first-degree murder,
kidnapping and child endangerment and faced the possibility of life in prison -
the sentence pronounced on her ex-husband, Donald Boss. Her trial was scheduled
to start next month.
But she pleaded guilty of attempted murder, voluntary manslaughter, child
endangerment and willful injury. The maximum sentence on those charges is 50
years, but she will be eligible for parole after 171/2 years.
She was remarried last week to a fellow Plymouth County Jail inmate and changed
her name to Lisa Green.
On Monday, Green seemed at times hesitant and confused as she sat between her
two court-appointed attorneys, listening to Judge Duane Hoffmeyer.
"Your honor," she said at one point, "I'm pleading guilty to aiding and
abetting to these charges, is that correct?"
Timothy Boss was one of four adopted children who lived with Donald Boss and
Green and their seven biological children in the small northwest Iowa town of
Remsen. The couple moved there from Michigan, where child welfare officials
were beginning to ask questions about the treatment of the adopted children.
All had emotional or psychological problems.
Prosecutors allege that Timothy died Feb. 23, 2000, in Remsen after being tied
to a chair and beaten by Donald Boss. Green admitted Monday that she assisted
in that beating, handed the boy over to her husband and then did not get
medical attention for Timothy.
Donald Boss eventually buried the boy's remains under the concrete floor in a
basement playroom. Timothy's disappearance went unnoticed until relatives in
Michigan began asking questions about his whereabouts.
Plymouth County Attorney Darin Raymond declined comment Monday on Green's plea,
saying he would wait until sentencing Dec. 8.
Defense attorney Robert Sikma said his client wanted to avoid the trauma of a
trial and the risk of a life sentence. She signed the plea agreement Saturday.
"I guess it's the end or near-end of an extremely tragic situation - the case
of an overburdened fam- ily," he said.
Sikma said Green had never before been charged with a crime and had been
described as a caring, attentive mother.
Lisa Green met Joseph Dale Green, 27, of Oakdale, Neb., in the Plymouth County
Jail. Joseph Green, who was shot and then arrested by Woodbury County deputies
after a high-speed chase in April, was sentenced to up to 15 years in prison
last week for several crimes, including assaulting a peace officer.
Lisa Green was granted a divorce from Donald Boss in late October. She and
Joseph Green were married Nov. 3.
The ceremony was performed by a judge over closed-circuit video because jail
policies prohibit visitation or contact between men and women inmates. Similar
rules apply in the Iowa prison system.
Fred Scaletta, spokesman for the Iowa Department of Corrections, said no
conjugal visits between inmates are allowed.
"We have a program where kids can spend a little time with their mothers, but
that's all," Scaletta said.
Most of the Boss children - ages 3 to 17 years - are in foster care in Iowa.
One lives in residential care in Michigan and another is at a state hospital.
http://www.dmregister.com/news/stori.../22727701.html
Copyright © 2003, The Des Moines Register.