Shoe Thefts
In order to be fully admitted to Indiana University, Boney needed to take and pass four courses in the summer of 1987. At that time, Boney was living in a dormitory in the company of other black teenagers from the Region (Northwest Indiana) and found that he was the odd man out in several aspects. One guy said he sounded like a cracker, while he was also the butt of jokes and teasing from the others, including being asked if he had a white mother or if he lightened the color of his skin.
The subject of race continued to be a factor in Boney's life and he claimed that when he took a white female friend to a service at a predominantly black Baptist Church that both he and she were shunned. He also claimed that "my own black people" had turned against him due to his involvement with a person of another race and labeled them as "ignorant black folks." As a result, he quit going to that church.
Boney managed to pass his four classes that summer, although the difficulty of each class was not great. He also spent a lot of time trying to catch the eyes of various young coeds, but wasn't successful. He would later learn a new approach that garnered the immediate and direct attention of those he wanted to impress.
Fall semester began and Boney's new roommate and he got along well with one another until an incident occurred in October, 1987. It was at that time that Boney's anger, which had never left him, resurrected itself.
Charles Darnell Boney has a habit of telling a story one way when the actual details are radically different. That is a major theme of his life. He can always portray himself as a principled stand-up guy, but the facts don't always cooperate with that myth.
Boney's version of the story that landed him in court for his first adult charge was that his Russian roommate had friends over in their room and the roommate failed to ask them to leave when Darnell was ready for bed. It was then that Boney claimed that he ordered his roommate and friends to leave and when they didn't, he "cleaned the clock" of one of the friends, and then tried to put "three-fourths of my foot in his ass."
The Indiana University Police Department (IUPD) report of the incident reflected, however, that another student knocked on the door of Boney's room and asked for his roommate. Boney responded by sucker punching the guy in the face. Not exactly a "Backbone" moment, but nonetheless the cowardly manner in which Boney acted that evening would become one of his personal trademarks.
Boney was charged with misdemeanor battery and was summoned to the Monroe County courthouse where he pleaded guilty to the charge and received probation. That wouldn't be the last of his visits to the courthouse, however.
He finished the semester at IU, but during the second semester, he dropped out and enlisted in the Indiana National Guard. After eight weeks of basic training and then Advanced Individual Training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, he was assigned to the 2nd Battalion of the 150th Field Artillery in Bloomington. He also got another job in a fast food restaurant and then met a young girl who would eventually become his first wife and bear him a son.
Darnell returned to IU for the fall 1988 semester but shortly after the semester began, so did his extracurricular activities.
On October 12th a young white coed was attacked at night shortly after leaving her car which was parked near the IU campus. She was tackled and forced to the ground by the assailant who was wearing a sweatshirt, a mask and gloves. Her left shoe was forcibly removed from her foot but the attacker left one of his gloves at the scene. It wouldn't be the last time that Boney left evidence at the scene of his crimes. Nonetheless, this was the first in five such attacks, all of which were on or near the IU campus.
Approximately seven weeks later, during the evening of December 4th, another white coed was attacked and tackled in front of a friend by an assailant who was also wearing a sweatshirt and a mask. The victim resisted and she was struck in the face by the attacker who stole one shoe from the victim.
Ten days later, yet another white coed was tackled and forced to the ground by an individual wearing a sweatshirt and clown makeup. The attack, which occurred in a parking lot, resulted in the perpetrator stealing the left shoe of the young woman who also suffered abrasions to her right knee and ankle and an injury to her wrist after being attacked.
Boney, who later confessed his roles in these first three attacks and shoe thefts, then took time off for Christmas but returned to the activity that he later termed was his "hobby" on January 19, 1989. Yet another white coed was in the process of getting into a friend's car when she was attacked for her shoe by Boney who was wearing something red and white on his face. He attacked the victim in front of at least one witness.
Apparently still craving the need for another shoe, that same evening Boney then found yet another potential victim who was also getting into a vehicle. He was unsuccessful in attempting to steal a shoe from the victim, who was struck in the face, as was a friend of hers. After striking the two women, Boney struck a Superman pose prior to fleeing. The police, already alerted after the previous attack, swarmed to the area, and as Boney tried to elude them by running through the old and wooded part of the IU campus near the law school, he was subsequently apprehended.
The five crimes for which Boney was charged, and for which he later claimed credit, had a similar pattern to them:
- The crimes occurred at night
- All of the victims were white coeds
- The crimes occurred at or near a vehicle or parking lot
- Boney used physical force in subduing the women, often striking them in the face or head
- The goal of the crime was to steal a shoe
- Boney was disguised and wearing a sweatshirt when committing the crimes
After Boney's arrest, he was duly provided his Miranda Rights and Boney, true to his form, began talking. One of Boney's traits is that he always loves to talk, particularly about himself.
Because Boney was smarter than others, including the police, he needed to tell them that, and he did, when he told them that some of the information that the police were telling the public, through the newspaper, was wrong. He was also proud of the fact that he had gotten away with his crimes for such a long time.
During his post-arrest interview with an officer and detective of the Bloomington Police Department he also made some startling admissions, including the following:
- "This may seem strange, but I have a thing for ladies legs and feet."
- "I never thought I would be caught…"
- He never assaulted a woman with a dress.
- He didn't know any of his victims.
- He chose his victims by attacking those with nice legs.
- All of his victims who wore pants had nice legs…he could tell they had nice legs even if he couldn't see their legs.
- He acknowledged that he "creeped around and scared" some of his victims before he attacked them.
- The intent of all five attacks was to steal a shoe.
- He always wore sweats during his attacks.
- He had an "escape plan": he was going to take off his sweatshirt and sweatpants and put them into his backpack in order to not match the description of the assailant which would be given by the victim.
Finally, he told the police, "If you can't get caught or no one catches you, you just keep doing it."
Well, you can't argue with logic. If you don't get caught, you keep doing it, particularly if you're obsessed with shoes, legs and/or feet and there's a ready market in the form of over 18,000 coeds on a Big Ten campus.
Some of Boney's admissions came after he was confronted with the results of the search of his apartment, including a closet which yielded the following items:
- white face mask
- blue leather shoe
- sweatshirt
- pink handbag containing a pair of blue pantyhose, a pair of natural pantyhose, and an advertisement for pantyhose.
Most people would agree that the man was obsessed with women's lower extremities and the hose and shoes that covered them.
The interrogation of Boney was an excellent one. The police obviously had caught Boney red-handed, but nonetheless they allowed him to spin his story. A common problem with some law enforcement officers is that they try and direct each and every part of the interview or interrogation rather than letting the person talk. That's not to say that you don't need to keep the person on point, but you sometimes get a great deal of very good information by simply letting the person talk. The Bloomington officers did and as a result, Boney gave them a plethora of great information.
Boney was subsequently charged with three counts of Class C Felony Robbery and one Count of Class C Felony Attempted Robbery. After the initial court proceedings, he pleaded guilty to all four counts. He received but a few short months in the county jail as well as probation and was subsequently released in time to get married in November, 1989.
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