Murder of Jennifer Boyd: who was she? Where is Steven Podkulski, Jennifer Boyd’s killer now? Case Updates
The stabbing death of Jennifer Boyd, which was discovered in August 2002 in a storage locker at the facility where she worked as a manager, sent shock waves through the community of Bedford Park, Illinois. Even after 18 months of investigation, the police could not find any clues and the case remained unsolved for a period of twelve years after that. After additional evidence was uncovered in 2014, the killer was eventually apprehended by authorities.
The episode of “On the Case With Paula Zahn: Terror in Bedford Park” on Investigation Discovery documents the case in a clear and succinct manner, helping viewers understand the timeline as well as the investigation process. We’ve got you covered if you want to know the details, such as the identity of the person who committed the crime and their current location. So, let’s go, okay?
Jennifer Boyd
How did Jennifer Boyd die?
Jennifer Boyd, a native of Alsip, Illinois, earned her bachelor’s degree in social work from Lewis University. Jennifer Boyd is the daughter of Susan Boyd. The individual, aged 27 at the time of the event, worked as a property manager at Bedford Park Public Storage. She had a reputation for being open-minded and charitable to everyone around her. Boyd maintained a strong relationship with his mother and sister, Rebecca. Remembering her, her friend and classmate Kristin Morris said, “She was so much fun. I just miss her. She had a wonderful sense of humor.
On August 3, 2002, at approximately 6:15 p.m., a person who had made a particular sighting at a public warehouse contacted the Bedford Park Police Department. Immediately after receiving the call, firefighters were dispatched to the scene at 6990 West 79th Street to assist the person trapped inside the locker. James Burke, a police officer, later testified that they arrived in the area after receiving a distress call about an individual hearing a pounding sound and “maybe some help, some ‘Help’ from inside the locker. The call had been received after they had received the location.
Upon further inspection, police found Boyd lying “face down in a pool of blood” with two “scan marks” on the buttocks of his pants, one on each side. The woman’s wallet, which contained her credit card, could not be found at the scene. Boyd’s autopsy results revealed that she had suffered numerous stab wounds prior to her death. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that Boyd had been stabbed and then kept confined inside the locker for nearly two hours as she screamed for help and pounded on the door.
According to records maintained by the Illinois State Department of Corrections, Steven had a history of robbery and burglary convictions that date back to 1993 and occurred in multiple counties. In 2009, he was convicted of burglary and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, which he was serving at Stateville Correctional Center in Cresthill. After serving the equivalent of half his sentence, he was granted parole in December 2014. Immediately after his arrest, he was charged with first degree murder in the Boyd case. A Cook County court had set bail at $3 million.
In 2014, on the 12th anniversary of Boyd’s death, his sister, Rebecca Hernandez, along with friends and relatives, gathered in Bedford Park to pay their respects and remember the young woman. In memory of Jenny Boyd, about five dozen mourners launched nine dozen pink balloons into the air. As her sister addressed the crowd, she said: “Even though today is a celebration of Jenny’s life, the monsters responsible for (her) death cannot be said to walk the streets free. ” While the course of our lives has been irrevocably altered, theirs continues as usual. Even after all these years, we continue to believe that the perpetrators of these crimes will be identified and brought to justice.
Jennifer Boyd
Who Killed Jennifer Boyd?
Police prepared a sketch based on the testimony of several witnesses, which depicted a light-skinned black man, aged between 35 and 40, wearing rimless glasses as the likely attacker. Additionally, Bedford Park Public Storage offered a $25,000 prize to any confidential source who provided information leading to the arrest of those responsible for the heist. However, despite the best efforts of the South Suburb Major Crimes Task Force and the Bedford Park Police Department, the investigation failed to uncover any potential leads in the search for the killer. But by 2004, the investigation into the crime had been dropped because there were no suspects or plausible clues.
It would be another eight years before the Bedford Police Department reopened the investigation again in 2012. Authorities were able to identify two people interested in Boyd’s murder after a period of twelve years had passed since his death . Detective Andy Smuskiewicz, who is one of the investigators working on the case, shared the following statement: “We are working on (on) various leads.” It is undeniably a vicious and heinous act of violence. We thought about it a lot. After sifting through interviews that took place more than a decade ago, investigators came up with the name of Steven Podkulski, now 40, as a potential offender.
According to documents filed in the case, Diane allegedly told police that in September 2002 she, her ex-boyfriend Matthew Christianson and Steven were smoking weed together when she overheard Steven telling Matthew that he had “messed up” by murdering a woman at the storage unit because she took him by surprise. Diane went on to say that Steven confessed to Matthew that he ‘pushed’ her inside a storage unit and stabbed her ‘to shut her up’ when she screamed inside. . After that, Steven had wiped his knife on his jeans, which was information that the police had not released to the media but gave legitimacy to Diane’s statements.
The court also heard testimony from James Goble, who allegedly worked alongside Steven to commit burglaries and keep product in warehouses, and Diane, who was the ex-girlfriend of one of Steven’s friends. These two people are accused of working alongside Steven to commit burglaries and keep the product in storage facilities. According to documents filed in the case, Diane allegedly told police that in September 2002 she, her ex-boyfriend Matthew Christianson and Steven were smoking weed together when she overheard Steven telling Matthew that he had “messed up” by murdering a woman at the storage unit because she took him by surprise.
Additionally, Diane claimed that Steven told Matthew he ‘pushed’ her inside a storage container and stabbed her ‘to shut her up’ when she yelled at him. inside the unit. The fact that Steven then wiped his knife on his jeans—a piece of evidence that the police had allegedly not released to the media and which legitimized Diane’s claims—supported his claims. Additionally, the state presented evidence that placed Steven at the crime site with bloodstained clothing. Additionally, according to records maintained by the Illinois Department of Corrections, Steven had a long history of burglary and theft convictions dating back to 1993. These offenses were spread across multiple counties.
At the time, Steven was incarcerated at Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill, where he was serving a 10-year sentence for a burglary conviction he received in 2009. He was due for parole in October 2014, after already served five years in prison. phrasing. A warrant was issued for Steven’s arrest on Boyd’s first-degree murder charge in October 2014, shortly after he was granted parole. The warrant was issued after “adequate caution” was exercised in light of the facts set out above. A bail amount of $3 million was decided by a Cook County judge.
Steven Podkulski
Where can I find Steven Podkulski at this hour?
Steven Podkulski was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in 2019 by a Cook County Circuit Court jury. He was sentenced to two concurrent terms, each of 45 years in prison. Before being considered for parole, Steven would have to complete at least 37 years of the sentence he received. On May 31, 2022, he appealed to the Illinois Court of Appeals; however, the appeal was dismissed and he was found guilty of the charges against him. According to official court records, he is currently serving his sentence at the Ménard Correctional Center, with a potential release date of September 24, 2059 and an expected release date of September 24, 2062. His parole hearing is scheduled for September 24. 2059. .
