LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — The Lancaster County District Attorney's Office announced they have a suspect in connection to the Aug. homicide of Nora Sanchez in her New Holland home.
Robert Edward Boddy, 43, is facing charges of criminal homicide, strangulation, and aggravated indecent assault.
Boddy was initially a person of interest in the homicide as he lived in the same housing complex, on the 300 block of East Main Street, as the victim and was previously registered under Megan's Law after pleading guilty to indecent assault in 2007, police said.
Lab results from DNA samples found under Sanchez's fingernails matched with Boddy's DNA, according to detectives.
On Sept. 1, 2021, police officers were dispatched to an apartment on the 300 block of East Main Street for a welfare check on Sanchez per her out-of-state daughter's request. She told police she hadn't heard from her mother which was odd given that they usually spoke every day.
When the property manager went to check on Sanchez, they found the door locked. They looked through a window and saw the victim's body. The manager called the police and crawled into the apartment through a window to check on the victim. Sanchez was dead.
Inside the apartment, police discovered grocery bags with perishable items with receipts from Aug. 31, around 1 p.m.
An autopsy, performed on Sept. 2, determined Sanchez's cause of death was strangulation with evidence of sexual assault, according to the county coroner's office.
Officials say evidence gathered during the autopsy, including the victim's fingernail clippings, and a voluntary sample of Boddy's DNA were sent to the Pennsylvania State Police Crime Lab Serology Division.
Boddy has been in Lancaster County Prison since Oct. 3 when he was arrested for failing to register with state police for the previous Megan's Law conviction and other forgery-related charges.
District Attorney Heather Adams said of this case, "The nature and circumstances of this homicide were understandably unnerving for the local community. Thankfully, separate charges were able to be filed against Boddy which resulted in his removal from the community while investigators awaited the results of DNA analysis that confirmed additional circumstantial evidence in the case and led to the arrest today.”
Boddy's preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 5, 2022.
