Guilty verdict in Boutilier murder case

Colin Koehler
Victim’s last phone call haunts father
By Elna Seabrooks
Staff Writer
    “Daddy you’d be so proud of me …. I’m finally getting my life together,” are the words Gene Boutilier repeated saying his daughter’s last phone call will haunt him for the rest of his life.
    Boutilier stated that his daughter, Holly Boutilier, was happy and positive about having set up an interview to rent her own apartment during their conversation as she was walking along the Penobscot River with her murderer hours before she died.
    He also stated that his daughter told him she was happy about living a sober life and “not drinking or smoking pot.” Upon hearing her news, Boutilier recalled what he told her: “I will always be proud of you, no matter what. And, I will always love you, no matter what.”
Two families devastated
    On Oct.1, after deliberating for less than three hours in the case against Colin Koehler, 35, the jury handed down a guilty verdict. He had been accused of stabbing to death the 19-year-old Oakfield woman whose body was found in Bangor along the riverbank near a cluttered “burn hut” on Aug. 9, 2009.
    Boutilier attended the week-long trial and said he was not surprised at how quickly the jury arrived at the guilty verdict. But, he added, Koehler “should definitely be given a life sentence” because of the devastation on both the Boutilier family and the Koehler family. “He has ruined a lot of lives.”
    “I talked to Holly the morning she was murdered. She was so kind and loving. You never had to worry or wonder about what Holly was thinking because she would tell you point blank whether you wanted to hear it or not. She was very outspoken. And, she was always a happy girl.”
    Boutilier denied reports that his daughter was homeless saying she had the lived with him in Oakfield before moving to Bangor. He also stated that “she had a lot of friends there and even lived with Koehler’s girlfriend for a time because they were good friends.”
    Justin Ptaszynski, 28, of Bangor, testified at Koehler’s trial that he had seen his friend inflict the deadly blows with a curved Japanese-style knife. Ptaszynski had originally been charged with murder and hindering apprehension or prosecution. He later pleaded guilty to a charge of hindering apprehension or prosecution. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison with all but six years suspended.
    Although there was no clear motive in the case against Koehler, Ptaszynski identified a knife prosecutors pointed to as the murder weapon. Ptaszynski told the jury in Koehler’s trial that he, Koehler and Holly Boutilier were the three people seen on police surveillance video the afternoon she died. Koehler denied that claim saying he last saw her the day before her murder and had not walked past the police station.
    Boutilier said he will attend the sentencing where Koehler faces at least 25 years in prison. The defense team has stated that there will be an appeal. Koehler has been held without bail at the Penobscot County Jail since his arrest Aug. 11, 2009 following a standoff with police.