A convicted sex offender, 59-year-old David Allen Bosely, has been arrested and charged with raping and murdering Marcy Suzette Nellis, a 76-year-old great-grandmother who was innocently out walking on a biking trail near her home in Oil City, Pennsylvania.
Nellis was reported missing on March 26, and after a 12-hour search involving over 100 trained first responders and the Pennsylvania State Police’s Aviation Unit, her body was found the next morning in a wooded area along a bike trail near Clarion University’s Venango Campus.
A criminal complaint revealed that additional photographs of the area where Nellis was found showed evidence of “drag” marks and dense brush and debris leading to the Allegheny River.
An autopsy conducted by the Erie County medical examiner concluded that Nellis had died from asphyxiation caused by strangulation and that she had been sexually assaulted. Further evidence, including bodily fluids and DNA swabs from her neck, was collected during the autopsy. A rape kit was collected.
Bosely was immediately considered a person of interest after law enforcement found shoe impressions at the crime scene. Surveillance was set up around his home, located in walking distance of the crime scene, and he was subsequently arrested and charged on April 6.
Despite denying any involvement in Nellis’ death during his interview with the police, Bosely was charged with several crimes, including homicide, rape by forcible compulsion, abuse of a corpse, aggravated indecent assault, and kidnapping by the Venango County District Attorney’s Office.
Records show that Bosely was previously convicted in 2000 of aggravated indecent assault and attempted rape and has been required to register as a sex offender since then.
He is currently being held without bail in the Venango County Prison until his next court appearance on April 19.
Nellis was an active member of Good Hope Lutheran Church, and her obituary described her joy playing bridge with friends and spending time with her family, especially her four grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.
