The reported reason for the slaying? A $100 drug debt.
Many of the details about the crime were supplied by Roddra Rodgers during testimony reported by the Colorado Springs Gazette.
Rodgers lived in the same apartment complex as Bomsta, with whom he would smoke pot and down brews every so often. But something else was on the agenda during a fateful day in early June 2010.Bomsta initially asked if Rodgers would "watch over" his wife JoBeth while he went to collect $100 someone owed him. Rodgers said "no," but he headed over to the Bomstas' apartment later that night.
Shortly thereafter, as he toked in the bathroom, Rodgers said he heard a fight break out. When he emerged, he saw Bomsta repeatedly slugging a man in the face. Then, once the human punching bag collapsed near the front entrance, Bomsta and another guest, Peter Miller, 38, pulled the guy, who'd been hanging around earlier, into the bedroom, There, Bomsta continued his rain of fists while the barefooted Miller stomped on the man later ID'd as Maasch.
Then JoBeth got into the act, injecting an unknown substance into the man's arm using a syringe she'd removed from a black satchel. Meanwhile, Miller grabbed a rope and a garbage bag, which Bomsta fitted onto the man's head.
Somewhere along the line, Rodgers says one of the men promised him death if he squealed -- a threat for which Bomsta apologized. But the violence he witnessed, which prompted one of the men to slice away a particularly blood-saturated chunk of carpeting, eventually loosened his tongue. He reported the assault two days later, but more than a week more would pass before Maasch's body was located in a rugged area not far from Garden of the Gods Park. The Gazette notes that Maasch was found inside a toy bin, with ankles and wrists bound and his head covered with a plastic bag. Cause of death: asphyxiation.
JoBeth, Miller and a third man, Christopher McKinley, 21, all pleaded guilty to their role in Maasch's slaying, as did Bomsta, reportedly because the charge against him was bumped down to second-degree murder. But he's still slated to spend more than half-a-century behind bars. His accomplices are expected to be sentenced next month.
Look below to see a larger version of Bomsta's mug shot, as well as photos of JoBeth, Miller and McKinley.
More from our Colorado Crimes archive: "Hector Sifuentes, 15 others busted for firearms and/or drug violations in last 72 hours."
