COVERT (WKZO) -- The Preliminary hearing for four suspects in a brutal cold case murder in Van Buren County is underway. Police say Deborah Boothby was beaten to death when she apparently got into an argument with her boyfriend, Ivory Shaver, who was sitting with another woman, Shevolier Gill at the Blue Star Lounge in Covert back in April of 1998.
Investigators claim that Boothby was savagely beaten by the pair and Shaver’s Nephew, Scottie Shaver. Ed Foster and Adrienne Burnette joined in, in front of dozens of witnesses.
Later that night, police found her body laying in the middle of Blue Star Highway. Burnette, who has cut a deal with prosecutors, claims Boothby was dumped in the road and run over twice to make it look like a hit and run. That’s where police investigators left it, until the case was reopened and witnesses began coming forward. Testimony in the hearing, to determine if there is enough evidence to warrant a trial, will continue today.
