During a 2019 court appearance, Trail attempted to slit his throat with an unknown object after a witness left the stand during a hearing at Saline County Courthouse. At the time, he yelled about Boswell's innocence, People reported.
Loofe, who worked as a cashier at a hardware store, was reported missing on Nov. 16, 2017 by her mother. Investigators said Boswell arranged a date with Loofe through Tinder on Nov. 15, 2017, the same day officials said Loofe was killed, according to a previously reported AP story.
“Ready for my date," Loofe captioned a photo posted to Snapchat the same day she was killed.
Ashley Hills, who said she had also met Boswell on Tinder, testified in 2020 Trail had claimed to be a “vampire” and called Boswell his “queen,” Inside Edition Digital previously reported. Hills, who said she met the couple over the summer of 2017, claimed that the pair casually discussed murder and torture in connection with “witchcraft.”
Hills testified that when she initially met Boswell, Boswell told her she knew a man who would be her "sugar daddy," but she had to meet him first. Hills said that Trail picked her up and showed her pictures of women, some of whom were naked, and told her that they were his witches and that he was a vampire, the Lincoln Journal Star reported.
Hills claims Trail told her that she could be his 13th witch, but only if she killed someone. As part of the rules of their agreement, Hill testified she had to contact Boswell every three hours and said that she couldn’t talk to other men. She said she believed him at the time that in order to become a witch, one would have to kill someone. Trail told her that she would have “to breathe in someone’s last breath,” she said in court. Hills added that she no longer subscribes to those beliefs.
"I think my mind got caught up in the what-ifs of life," Hills reportedly said.
Boswell’s attorney, Todd Lancaster, reportedly called all the talk about witchcraft “hearsay,” but Hills added that Boswell would get “joyful” when talking about torturing others, according to the paper.
Hills said she eventually realized she could not go through with killing someone and had a panic attack.
Asked by Lancaster what she thinks of Trail while testifying, Hills said she thinks he’s a “con artist” and a “psychopath.”
Before announcing the sentencing this week, Saline County District Judge Vicky Johnson said the murder met the legal standard of "exceptional depravity" necessary to impose the ultimate punishment, the Register reported.
The judge said that Trail, who changed his story numerous times, bragged about the murder and implied to investigators that he and Boswell drank Loofe’s blood. Evidence also showed he bought a hacksaw, tool and bleach before the killing, the Register reported.
“There is no reasonable doubt that this aggravating circumstance against Aubrey Trail justifies an imposition of a sentence of death,” Johnson said, the Norfolk Daily News reported.
The judge said Loofe was "needlessly" dismembered to satisfy Trail's desires and so he did not have to hide the body. Unnecessary mutilation is one factor considered when establishing exceptional depravity, the AP reported.
Attorney General Doug Peterson called the three-judge panel's order well-reasoned, KETV reported.
In a statement, Peterson said, "The panel did an extensive job of setting forth the gruesome details of the murder of Sydney Loofe and explained why the death penalty is appropriate under the language of the Nebraska statutes and the history of Nebraska case law where the death penalty was upheld."
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