A Woman Was Kidnapped And Murdered By A Group Of Friends Who Sought Revenge

29-year-old Tiffany Boyer was kidnapped and bludgeoned to death by four people who blamed her for the disappearance of one of their friends.

March 29, 2023
Tiffany Boyer, pictured here, was kidnapped and murdered in August 2015 in Northeast Albuquerque, New Mexico.

29-year-old Tiffany Boyer was kidnapped and murdered in August 2015 in Northeast Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Photo by: Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (Screenshot from ID's "Mean Girl Murders")

Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. (Screenshot from ID's "Mean Girl Murders")

Born on Christmas Day in 1985 to parents Teresa Boyer and Blair Boyer, Tiffany Nicole Boyer was beloved, but she was unfortunately the victim of an accident when she was only five years old. Her skull was fractured when one of her brothers threw a rock at her, reported The Cinemaholic. It led to long-term health issues such as seizures when she was 12 years old.

In her twenties, Boyer became a devoted single mother to two children, but she didn’t have full custody of them. When she wasn’t looking after her children, she fell into a party scene. Her friend, Kristal Mejia, described her as playful and fearless.

In 2015, a man named Robert McGuire, who was known in the community as “Machete Bob”, disappeared after Boyer claimed he raped her.

In August 2015, four of McGuire’s friends kidnapped and murdered 29-year-old Tiffany Boyer because they apparently blamed her for false accusations and his subsequent disappearance. Holly Donovan, Tiffany’s stepsister, insisted that it wasn’t in the young woman’s character to make such serious false accusations.

Although McGuire’s four friends apparently had no evidence to back up their suspicions, KRQE reported that they brought Boyer to a private home near San Mateo and Constitution in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She was tied up and kept in a closet, then police say that Stephanie Stepp tried to strangle her. When she failed to kill Boyer, William Paul Alexander bludgeoned her to death with a hammer. Shawna Cannon and Joshua Taramasco were also charged for kidnapping and murder for their role in the tragedy.

Boyer’s body was found three months later around 2.5 miles south of Highway 55 in Socorro County. Her killers dumped her body, allegedly joking that she would become “coyote food”. Her body was so decomposed that a forensic anthropologist spent almost six months determining how she was killed.

Simon Drobik, a police officer with the Albuquerque Police Department, stated, “We actually had our horse-mounted unit covering a lot of distance. It’s the only way we could find the remains because it’s such a remote place.”

“A lot of work went into this. Ms. Boyer’s family now has some closure,” added Drobik.

All four suspects were ultimately convicted in Boyer’s death. Stephanie Stepp pled guilty to second-degree murder, conspiracy, and kidnapping, and she was sentenced to 24 years in prison. Joshua Taramasco pled guilty to kidnapping and was given an eight-year prison sentence, according to The Albuquerque Journal. Shawna Cannon pled guilty to kidnapping, and she was sentenced to six years in prison to be followed by three years of probation.

In 2018, William Paul Alexander, then 58, was convicted of first-degree murder and additional charges in the death of Tiffany Boyer, and he was sentenced to life plus 36 years in prison, reported The Associated Press. Alexander denied he was involved in Boyer’s murder in a statement to the court.

“The staff of the District Attorney’s Office worked long hours over a year and a half in order to fairly present the facts of this investigation to the court and achieve some justice,” District Attorney Raul Torrez said, according to The Albuquerque Journal.

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