NEW HOLLAND, Pa. (TCN) — A registered sex offender will spend the rest of his life behind bars for sexually assaulting and killing his neighbor in 2021 after he had already pleaded guilty to a separate aggravated indecent assault nearly 17 years ago.
The Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office secured a life sentence plus an additional 32 1/2 to 67 years in prison for 43-year-old Robert Boddy. The defendant pleaded guilty to first-degree homicide, strangulation, and aggravated indecent assault in connection with the death of 65-year-old Nora Sanchez. He also pleaded guilty to failure to register information as a Megan’s Law offender, a dedicated registry for sexual offenders and sexually violent predators.
On Sept. 1, 2021, Sanchez’s daughter reportedly requested a welfare check on her mother because she hadn’t heard from her even though they usually spoke every day. According to prosecutors, the property manager noticed the door was locked, looked through the window, and saw Sanchez’s body before calling 911. The property manager then reportedly crawled through the window and noticed Sanchez was deceased.
New Holland Police responded to the home, where they found Sanchez, as well as perishable items left out at room temperature that had been purchased the previous day.
An autopsy later revealed Sanchez died of strangulation and had evidence of sexual assault. Investigators recovered the victim’s fingernail clippings and submitted them to the Pennsylvania State Police Crime Lab Serology Division. Prosecutors said the DNA matched that of Boddy, who lived in the same complex as Sanchez. Boddy had previously pleaded guilty to aggravated indecent assault in 2007 and was a Megan’s Law registrant. Police arrested him in December 2021 on suspicion of Sanchez’s death, and prosecutors filed charges after lab results confirmed Boddy’s DNA on Sanchez’s fingernails.
Boddy was previously arrested in October 2023 for separate charges of failing to register with the Pennsylvania State Police for the previous Megan’s Law conviction and four other forgery-related offenses. In July, Boddy allegedly forged checks and stole money from a debit card totaling over $1,800. He also reportedly failed to report his new address as required under Megan’s Law.
In a statement, Lancaster County District Attorney Heather Adams said, “The nature and circumstances of this homicide were understandably unnerving for the local community.”