Casefile True Crime - Case 250: Amy Boyer

Episode Date: June 10, 2023

*** Content warning: Mental illness, stalking, gun violence *** Amy Boyer was a popular teen in her hometown of Nashua, New Hampshire. Her life was busy between school, work and social commitments. F...ull of joy and love, Amy naturally drew in those around her – including a troubled young man named Liam Youens. --- Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Milly Raso Creative direction – Milly Raso Production and music – Mike Migas Music – Andrew D.B. Joslyn Sign up for Casefile Premium: Apple Premium Spotify Premium Patreon For all credits and sources, please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-250-amy-boyer

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents. If you feel at any time you need support, please contact your local crisis center. For suggested phone numbers for confidential support and for a more detailed list of content warnings Please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website So you wish to enter Liam Yowen's mind? Well, be my guest. This is the message that greeted visitors to the now-defunct website, Amy Boyer.com. Clicking a button-labeled antar, loaded a new page that featured a photo of a young man with a short hair and a goatee.
Starting point is 00:01:01 He wore a heavy jacket and sunglasses. In one hand, he hold an assault rifle with a finger resting on the trigger. The accompanying text read, «Greeting infidel's, I am a layamiawans. Who am I? Well, if I had twenty people buried in my backyard, my neighbors would have described me as quiet, and basically kept to himself. Even those closest to Liam Yowen's new very little about him, Liam hailed from the city of Nashua in the American state of New Hampshire. He lived there with his divorced mother,
Starting point is 00:02:05 aunt, niece, and whichever of his five-old siblings were visiting at the time. Despite being constantly surrounded by people, Liam was rarely seen or heard. He hardly spoke to his family, who left him to his own devices. At Nashua high school where he attended, Liam was referred to as a ghost. Few knew his name and he garnered a little attention aside from being teased. Then and bespectacled, Liam viewed himself as so unattractive that he wouldn't let anyone take his picture. He never dated or participated in extra-curricular activities,
Starting point is 00:02:46 instead wandering the halls alone and eating lunch by himself in the corner. Living off frozen pizza and soda, Liam spent hours alone in his locked bedroom. He said at his computer playing video games, watching pornography, and interacting online. computer playing video games, watching pornography, and interacting online. While the internet was still in its infancy in the early 90s, its expansion into the home environment allowed reclusses like Liam Yowans to foster a new existence online. He created at least four websites for free on web hosting services like tripod.com and geocities. These sites became Liam's virtual diaries where he vented his innermost thoughts and feelings. Liam also wrote fiction.
Starting point is 00:03:36 In one short story he posted online, Liam described a young man named Willem, who always wanted to belong. His extremely low self-esteem and lack of self-confidence made him quiet and withdrawn. An outsider looking in, Willem wanted to approach others and join in their fun, but feared being humiliated. Liam wrote, Willem remembered one particularly regretful moment in his dull and eventful childhood that he wishes he could do over again. It was the summer of his 11th year at a sword fighting tournament in which almost all the village boys participated. Willum was standing away from the small crowd of gatherers that cheered on their champions to victory.
Starting point is 00:04:25 Willum was alone like a daisy sprouting out from a field of grass. No, wait a minute, it was actually more like an acorn that had fallen off its tree, helplessly cut off from the other. Willem drifted away like smoke into another one of his day dreams. One of the ways he kept his sanity in his lonely life. William pictured himself as the Queen's champion, a warrior who stood above the others, his followers. But the happy fantasy turned sour as the Queen and all the followers had the faces of
Starting point is 00:05:02 the villagers of his town. How can I bear champion? I can't even muster the courage to talk to them. Willem was at rock bottom now. He knew that wherever he went, there would be people just like the ones surrounding him now that he would have to communicate with. He knew they would look at him and laugh at his lengthy appearance, the way he was sure everyone else did. In 1993, while in the eighth grade, Liam Yowen's attended a church youth group
Starting point is 00:05:37 meeting where he encountered a fellow Nashua high student. Although they didn't have any significant interaction, Liam was instantly enamored with this mystery girl. It wasn't until the 10th grade that they crossed paths again. The pair were assigned to the same algebra class, where Liam heard the girl's name for the first time. Amy Boyer Shortly after, Liam was on the school bus when another male student began making strange noises for a laugh. A girl yelled out playfully for the boy to shut up.
Starting point is 00:06:15 Liam turned his head and realized it was Amy Boyer. The otherwise unremarkable interaction was a defining moment for Liam. He posted about it on his website. It was the moment he fell in love. Amy Boyer was the stark contrast of Liam Yowans. Described as gentle, caring and loving, she never left home without giving her mother and stepfather an embrace and telling them she loved them. Whether it was going to concerts with her older brother, having cookouts with her friends,
Starting point is 00:06:51 or helping her little sister with homework, Amy valued every person in her life. She held on to every friend she ever met. When she wasn't studying or working at a local ice cream shop, Amy camped with her family and sailed on their boat. She loved the outdoors and everything associated with it. She lived a full and happy life and looked forward to her future. Liam Yowen's created a public website dedicated to Amy and his feelings for her, titled
Starting point is 00:07:25 Amy Boyard.com. On the site, he posted identifying details about Amy, including her full name, physical descriptions, and where she lived. He surreptitiously obtained pictures of Amy that he posted and gushed over. He analyzed each encounter the pair had. In one instance, Amy drove past Lamb with a frant and playfully yelled out hi. On his website, Liam wrote, I was so fucked up in the head, it didn't even register to respond.
Starting point is 00:08:02 In his senior year, Liam enrolled in the same classes as Amy hoping it would draw them together. I need a daily intake of Amy here to admit it online. When Amy apparently caught wind of his crush Liam was mortified. He pondered about it online, writing, This actually is not necessarily a bad thing, as this only hightens Amy's awareness of me in a major way. From that point on whenever Liam and Amy were in the same vicinity, Liam felt like Amy was thinking about him. They once passed by one another in the school lunchroom. Liam avoided making contact, but Amy brushed against him in a way that Liam perceived as intentional.
Starting point is 00:08:53 Dissecting her behavior online, Liam wrote, She would act as though she didn't notice me, whether or not I was staring at her. To pretend that you don't notice someone uses twice as much concentration on that person then if you just ignored them. On Valentine's Day, Liam noticed that Amy was holding a rose. He later watched from a window as Amy spoke with a male student. Liam sensed that Amy knew he was watching. She glanced in his direction three times. The person Amy was talking to became her boyfriend. Watching the two of them make out made Liam feel insane. He was certain Amy was purposely taunting him. Regardless, his infatuation continued to grow.
Starting point is 00:09:51 Amy disembarked the school bus on Woodbury Drive, leading Liam to assume that's where she lived. At night, he drove down the cul-de-sac and took pictures of all the ranch-style houses, hoping to identify Amy's home. Liam disclosed online. I won't even tell you why I did this. I can't imagine the absurdity of it. He eventually spotted Amy's car parked out the front of the home with a foe wishing well on the lawn, and a large welcome sign near the door.
Starting point is 00:10:24 Describing the sighting, Liam rode. on the lawn and a large welcome sign near the door. Describing the sighting, Liam wrote, When I saw that car and looked at that house and realized Amy was asleep in there, and dolphins flew, it was like crack cocaine. I have never felt that kind of rush in my life. Liam took the role of film to be developed at a local pharmacy. When a store clerk saw that the film contained nothing but images of a street, car and house, they became unnerved and contacted authorities. Liam returned to the store only to be greeted by a police officer
Starting point is 00:11:01 who informed him that the photos had been destroyed. In hindsight, Liam realized he should have taken other random images to detract from the others. As he left the pharmacy, the officer sarcastically remarked, �You're welcome�. Liam knew he was being perceived as strange, but that didn't bother him at all. By the time Liam Yowans graduated from Nashua High in 1997, he'd spent two years fixated on Amy Boyer.
Starting point is 00:11:35 He enrolled at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York State, putting 400 miles between him and Amy. This did a little to curb his infatuation. During mid-Somaster breaks, Liam returned to Nashua. On one occasion, he borrowed his mother's car and drove to Amy's house at 2.30am. He parked out the front and watched. 10 minutes later, a car approached from down the road. It was Amy.
Starting point is 00:12:10 Scared of being spotted, Liam tried to drive away, but his car wouldn't start. He had to get out and walk to a payphone. Writing about this close encounter online, Liam said. I called a tow truck at 3am to get my car from my first attempt at stalking. And you know what? Turns out I was so scared that I forgot to put the car in park to start it. Who didn't say life was fun? Case file will be back shortly. Thank you for supporting us by listening to this episode's sponsors. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp.
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Starting point is 00:16:19 Despite this close call, Liam Yowans kept a watchful lie over Amy's home. Sitting across the road in his mother's car, he'd smoke cigarettes while logging the movement of Amy's family. Although it was rare that he'd catch a glimpse of Amy herself. She typically left home before 7am to attend a dental hygiene course. Afterwards she went to one of her two jobs. Amy was near the manager of the ice cream shop, while also working as an orthodontist's assistant. She often didn't get home until midnight, while other nights were spanned at her boyfriend's house.
Starting point is 00:17:00 This frustrated Liam, but still he persisted. Eventually, he stopped seeing Amy's car on Woodbury Drive altogether. Liam suspected Amy had cottoned onto the fact he was observing her. He felt flattered. Liam told one of his sisters about his self-confessed obsession with Amy and took her with him to Woodbury Drive. This time, Amy's car was parked out the front. Liam was convinced there was a setup by police to catch him stalking. A short while later, Amy's car disappeared again. This indicated to Liam that the sting was off.
Starting point is 00:17:46 This indicated to Liam that the sting was off. He continued parking on Woodbury Drive and on one occasion a police car drove by. Liam now had no doubt that they were on to him. After a year of studying at Rochester Institute of Technology, Liam dropped out. Dormitory life simply wasn't for him. He cried uncontrollably on the bus ride to Nashua, feeling sorry for himself. He lasted a semester at a local college before taking on unskilled night shift work where he could be left alone. Outside of work, he was either hold up in his bedroom or out driving around. Weeks went by and Liam's family saw less and less of him.
Starting point is 00:18:32 They knew he was depressed and wondered where he went in the middle of the night, but no one disgusted with Liam. Nor did they enter his bedroom, where Liam mostly sat hunched over his computer, typing about his increasingly morose life. In one poem, he wrote, One day fades into another. People are used to know go on together, but I stay where I was, where I am. Alone and forgotten. I stay. where I am, alone and forgotten, I stay. Adding to Liam's low self-esteem was the fact that he had a condition known as Sunken Chester Disorder. This caused his ribs to stick out unnaturally. He pleaded with his mother
Starting point is 00:19:19 to get plastic surgery to fix it, but she refused and called the request silly. surgery to fix it, but she refused and called the request silly. In rage, Liam threw a china cabinet down a flight of stairs. It was the first time he had lashed out aggressively and his mother subsequently called the police. When they arrived, Liam threatened to kill himself, remarking, why don't I just buy a gun?" Liam's mother assured police that her son wasn't serious and the matter was dismissed. He was arrested for criminal threatening and criminal mischief and ordered to attend to anger management classes. In reality, Liam had been thinking about taking his own life for a while and was upset that his mother dismissed his cry for help.
Starting point is 00:20:08 He visited Suicide Forearms Online, where he divulged that he'd attempted self-harm but had vomited before he could go through with it. Liam's charges prohibited him from purchasing firearms, but he saved up to buy a shotgun regardless. When he went to get the gun, it was unavailable. Liam feared the police would find out and punish him. He made a plan to drive his car into a tree at high speed, but lost his nerve. Instead, he went to the police station and confessed to trying to obtain a firearm he intended to use to take his own life. The officer allegedly told Liam to go home and sleep it off.
Starting point is 00:20:56 Writing about the experience online, Liam said, They missed their chance to report my statement and institutionalize me. Oh well. Liam Yowen's avoided a criminal conviction and completed his three court-mandated anger management classes, which he mocked online for being ineffective. His firearm prohibitions were subsequently lifted. Liam went to a Walmart store in the neighboring state of Vermont. He chose a 22-colour barifal with little thought, calling it a small step into that world. He then went to the bordering state of Maine and to a different Walmart where he purchased a second rifle. Over time, Liam obtained four more rifles.
Starting point is 00:21:50 With each new purchase, he became more confident that no one was going to stop him. Liam posted pictures of his guns on his website and discussed what he could do with them. On a page titled Mass Murder, Liam revealed that one of his favorite things in life was seeing that breaking news banner appear on TV. He relished the aerial shots of people running from a building as a SWAT team converged with their guns drawn. Admit it he wrote to his website visitors. You love it too. You think it's horrible, but you still watch it, he wrote to his website visitors. You love it too.
Starting point is 00:22:25 You think it's horrible, but you still watch it, don't you? Taking inspiration from spree killers he admired, Liam fantasized about returning to Nashua High during lunchtime and firing indiscriminately at students in the courtyard. He hoped to emulate a high school shooting that had recently occurred elsewhere in the United States. Liam went to Nashua High to enact his plan, but couldn't go through with it. He screamed and cried in his car before driving on. Finally, Liam purchased the 9mm semi-automatic pistol from a seller advertising it in the want ads. He posted a picture of it online, writing,
Starting point is 00:23:11 I took this baby home. I just said, wow. Liam Yowen's used his website to air his fantasies about killing multiple people, but there was one fantasy in particular that he zeroed in on. Over the many years he had spent stalking Amy Boyer, Liam reached the conclusion that he no longer loved her. He confessed online. I wish I did, but I don't. Despite this change in his feelings, Liam wrote, I need to stop Amy from having a life. He wanted her to die.
Starting point is 00:23:56 Liam gave multiple vague reasons as to why. This included vengeance against unidentified people he felt wanted to punish him. The Nashua Police Department was also a driving force. Liam believed that they were aware of his stalking and were attempting to stop him. He wanted to beat them at their own game, succeed where they failed. It appeared that Liam was losing his grasp on reality. His online posts became inarticulate incoherent ramblings.
Starting point is 00:24:31 They implied a personal relationship between himself and his readers, though made little sense from an outsider's perspective. His thoughts were also becoming increasingly dark and disturbing. Liam wrote of a plan he had for Christmas Day of 1999. Amy's family would have four close friends visiting them from Florida. Liam envisioned lighting the house on fire, save for one exit. He did then kill each member of Amy's family as they rushed out. Liam was forced to call the plan off when he noticed that Amy's stepfather's truck was no longer at the family home. Liam suspected they were onto him. He concluded it was no longer feasible
Starting point is 00:25:22 to target Amy at home, but finding an alternative spot was difficult without raising suspicion. Liam hadn't stalked Amy beyond her home, and he didn't know where her workplace was located. He rarely had his mother's car, so he couldn't simply tail Amy around to figure out where exactly she went throughout the day. In late July 1999, Liam came across an internet-based investigation service titled DocuSearch.com. The company touted the ability to find personal information about any individual, including their work address. All they needed was the person's social security number. Liam was inspired.
Starting point is 00:26:10 He contacted DocuSearch requesting Amy Boyer's date of birth, hoping he could use it to obtain her social security number. Liam provided his name and contact details, paying the $20 fee via card. and contact details, paying the $20 fee via card. A docu search employee called Liam to verify his order, asking no questions about why he wanted the information. The next day, docu search provided Liam with the birth dates of several Amy Boyers, but not the Amy Boyer he was looking for.
Starting point is 00:26:45 Liam emailed DocuSearch with Amy's home address, hoping to get better results. He also placed an order for her social security number. In early August, DocuSearch obtained Amy Boyer's details from a credit reporting agency. They provided this information to Liam Yowans in exchange for $45. Armed with Amy's Social Security number, Liam submitted a new request for her workplace address. Unable to find this information at first, DocuSur tried a private investigator named Michelle Gambino, who specialized in proper pretext, subterfuge phone calls, and informative telephone conversations. It was Michelle's job to place a pretext call to Amy.
Starting point is 00:27:37 This meant collecting information under false pretense. Michelle Cordaimi and pretended to be affiliated with an insurance company that owed Amy an overpayment refund. By referencing Amy's social security number, date of birth and home address, Amy thought it was a legitimate call. She willingly handed over the address of the dentist office where she worked. Liam Yowen's paid $109 for this information. All up, I'd only took him a month and a half to gain all the intel he needed.
Starting point is 00:28:15 Posting an update on his website, Liam wrote, and Doc you search pulled through amazingly, it's like a dream. It's actually obscene what you can find out about people on the internet. Liam drove to Amy's workplace on Main Street, but her car was nowhere to be seen. He returned multiple times over the following weeks, failing to find any sign of Amy each time. Liam ventured online, writing, Why isn't she there? Why, why, why? I am becoming increasingly agitated.
Starting point is 00:28:54 Whenever I scream fuck, fuck at the top of my lungs, I'd do it in the car on the highway. Windows rolled up. But today I did it on Main Street and everyone heard me. By the next day Liam had calmed down, but admitted, I'm afraid that if I calmed down too much, fear might take over me. Liam typically drove by the dentist office in the mornings, but on September 30 he went at 4pm. For the first time, he saw Remy leaving.
Starting point is 00:29:30 He realized she worked in the afternoons, and that's why he had an encountered her sooner. It was such a rush, Liam described online. Zero fear, I had my gun and still didn't go in. I prayed to God that I won't have any fear when I go there. Liam Yowance now had all he needed to pull off the final stages of what he'd coined plan Amy. It was an operation five years in the making. Back in the 10th grade when Liam had first fallen in love with Amy Boyer on the school bus, his growing affection was immediately followed by depression. He'd described the feeling on his website, saying,
Starting point is 00:30:16 looks like it's suicide for me. Car accident? Rists? A few days later, Liam added, Hey, why don't I kill Amy too? Liam detailed Plan Amy extensively on his website. I have always lusted for the death of Amy he wrote, I'll lay in Wade across the street further down at 4pm. When she gets in, I'll drive up to her car blocking her in.
Starting point is 00:30:47 Window to window, I'll shoot her with my Glock. Liam continued to return to the dentist office on Main Street. One Tuesday, he spotted Amy waiting at a red light. She looked wonderful, like seeing God herself, Liam wrote on his website. I may be mistaking these feelings of euphoria for love. Maybe it's because I only see her in my dreams. When I see her in real life, I feel like my dreams mix with reality. Why didn't I do anything? It was really fast. I didn't have time to process what was happening. Also, I can't just hang around. She must never see me there.
Starting point is 00:31:33 By the following month of October, Liam was growing scared. He'd been back and forth to the dentist office many times and was starting to question whether he could go through with plan Amy. On the afternoon of Tuesday, October 12, Liam pulled up near Amy's car. He waited from 435 to 505, but Amy didn't show up. Liam flew into a rage, destroying things and screaming fuck at the top of his lungs.
Starting point is 00:32:03 Later, he repeatedly wrote online, why am I killing her? Shortly before 4pm on Friday, October 15, Liam posted a short message on his website. Referring to a person named Peter, it read, see if I did it. The text was followed by a clickable link
Starting point is 00:32:29 that opened to a New Hampshire News website. Case file will be back shortly. Thank you for supporting us by listening to this episode's sponsors. Thank you for listening to this episode's ads. to continue to deliver quality content. Just after 4.15pm, 20-year-old Amy Boyer finished work at the dentist office. She and two of her co-workers happily discussed their plans for the weekend as they walked to their cars parked on a side street less than a block away. Amy bid the others goodbye and got into her vehicle.
Starting point is 00:33:34 A nissent centra then sped up the street and came to a sudden stop by her driver's side door. A male yelled Amy's name, then came a series of loud bangs. Just as onlookers registered what was going on, there was one final bang. Amy Boyer had been shot by 21-year-old Liam Yowans with a 9mm semi-automatic pistol. Liam then turned to the gun on himself. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Amy was rushed to hospital where she succumbed to her injuries. She had sustained upwards of tank gunshots to the head and upper body. For the most part, it was an open and shut case. From the crime scene alone, police knew almost everything they needed to know, except
Starting point is 00:34:30 why Liam Yeowen's killed Amy Boyer. Liam's family were reluctant to talk. They told investigators that Liam was withdrawn, depressed, and that he mostly went unnoticed. This was supported by a former classmate of Lambs, who said, He was one of those people you don't even know he is there at all. A colleague described Lam as a mediocre employee who ignored customers. Investigators failed to identify a single friend of Liam's, with one detective telling the media.
Starting point is 00:35:09 Not one person can tell me that this kid had one friend in the whole world. Someone who has no human contact, this is contrary to the human psyche. This kid was a bomb ready to go off. The night of the murder suicide, detectives arrived at Liam Yowen's home. They found Liam's bedroom to be filthy and disorganized. Six rifles were propped up against one wall, and over 100 grounds of ammunition was strewn across the floor. Of the seven firearms Liam owned, all were found to have been purchased legally. Liam's mother told detectives that it had been weeks since she had stepped foot in her son's room, hence she never saw his collection of guns and ammo.
Starting point is 00:36:01 On a small desk surrounded by soda bottles and cigarette butts was Liam's personal computer. Examination of it revealed the website amyboyard.com. It exposed the deaths of Liam's lethal obsession with Amy. Described as a shrine, the content from his website along with three others maintained by Liam, produced a police report over 500 pages long. Everyone in the Nashua community, including Amy's loved ones, were stunned. Liam suspected that Amy, her family and the police were aware of his stalking, but this couldn't be further from the truth.
Starting point is 00:36:47 No one in Nashua knew, not even Amy. Had she known, Amy's mother was certain she would have raised the alarm. Aside from Liam's websites, there were other red flags, but Liam played such an insignificant role in others' lives that no one noticed the signs. On the National High School alumni's website, Liam listed his address as the seventh circle of hell. He described his occupation as obsessed stalker slash murderer.
Starting point is 00:37:21 A search of Liam's internet history revealed websites dedicated to murder, serial killers and other violent and morbid content. On one of his websites, Liam wrote extensively about wanting to kill a former classmate named Darwin. One day, he drove past Owen's house and saw him taking out the trash. Liam wrote, as I drove by we looked each other square in the eye. I was stunned. On another occasion, Owen entered the convenience store where Liam worked. Liam felt that Owen had pretended not to notice him, so he started bringing a gun to work. Liam wrote,
Starting point is 00:38:03 So he started bringing a gun to work. Liam wrote, if Owen came back, odd blow his brains out, but he never came again. Eventually, I stopped bringing my gun into work. Owen was so close to death. When questioned, Owen had no recollection of either of these encounters. It became evident that Liam had overanalyzed many of his encounters with others,
Starting point is 00:38:28 and had therefore interpreted things irrationally. Many of the experiences Liam chronicled online were found to be largely fabricated. This was abundantly clear when it came to Amy Boyer. Amy had never mentioned Liam Yowen's to anybody. By all accounts, they'd never even had a conversation, and Amy's friends were certain she wouldn't have remembered Liam's name. Everything Liam wrote about Amy paying him any attention appeared to be completely misinterpreted situations he overanalyzed to fuel his misguided beliefs. At no point did Amy or anyone close to her type her name into a search engine and uncover
Starting point is 00:39:16 Amyboyard.com. When Amy's stepfather Tim Ramsberg viewed the lengthy police report about Liam's online presence, he was brought to tears. He wondered why anyone who viewed Liam's websites hadn't reported them to the police. Within 24 hours of Amy Boyer's murder, Liam's online diaries were deleted by their host websites and scrubbed from the internet. The companies denied any responsibility, claiming they would have informed authorities if they were aware of Liam's online activity.
Starting point is 00:39:52 A spokesperson for Tripod.com said that they did their best to monitor online threats, but the technology to weed out such pages didn't yet exist. Just performing an ordinary search for words like hate and kill turned up an unfathomable volume of material. According to the host's sites, Liam's posts had only attracted single-digit traffic. They suspected this visitor was Liam himself. In response, Amy's stepfather Tim said, Do we create websites so that no one will see them? Of course not. I don't think for a minute that Liam Yowen's thought no one was going to see this.
Starting point is 00:40:37 He was screaming for help, and we failed miserably. Given the pages no longer existed, investigators could unassertain how many people might have witnessed Lambs online content. However, experts did recover a message in the guest book of one of Lambs' websites that read, formative. Keep it up. This indicated that at least one person had indeed stumbled across his site and failed to report it. In Liam's final post, 15 minutes before the murder suicide, he posted a link to a new site that would later report on the killing, along with the message. Peter, see if I did it.
Starting point is 00:41:28 Police uncovered emails between Liam and Peter who was reportedly from Greece and had goaded the troubled young man. Liam wrote online, Peter recommends I go on a rampage, but I don't know. The true identity of Peter and his full role in Liam the Owens' crimes remains a mystery. Tim Ramsberg became an outspoken advocate for website hosts monitoring their content. However, federal law protected internet companies from liability for material their customers
Starting point is 00:42:02 posted on personal websites. Instead, Amy's family pursued DocuSearch, the online company that lay and paid to uncover Amy Boyer's personal information. In April 2000, Amy's family filed a federal lawsuit against the DocuSearch for negligence and invasion of privacy. Amy's mother, Helen Ramsberg, said, if this had happened to one of Amy's friends, I know she would have come to us wanting to do something.
Starting point is 00:42:36 Docuserch's business was lucrative. With just two employees and a handful of independent contractors, the company grossed over $1 million a year selling personal information. DocuSearch claimed that they could find anything about anybody. Yet, neither DocuSearch or its subcontractors took any steps to determine who Liam Yowen's was, or why he wanted Amy Boyer's personal information.
Starting point is 00:43:04 Had they simply typed either Liam or Amy's name into any free search engine, they would have found his website documenting his intent to kill. At the time Liam was seeking the company's services, DocuSearch had been notified that their website was being used by potential stalkers intent to do harm. their website was being used by potential stalkers intent to do harm. Two days before DocuSurch staged the pretext call to Amy to deceptively obtain her workplace address, another client was attempting to obtain the address of a young Texan woman. In that case, a DocuSurch investigator made a pretext call to the woman's mother. She realized that they were trying
Starting point is 00:43:46 to deceive her and revealed to DocuSearch that her daughter had a restraining order against their client. The Remsbergs argued that DocuSearch should have notified Amy that Liam was requesting her personal information. The company should have also made sure Liam was obtaining the information for a legitimate purpose. Speaking with ABC's 2020, an internet expert and lawyer said, If Liam Yowans had walked into the National Detective Agency, the detective sitting behind the desk could have looked at him and said, this guys are not.
Starting point is 00:44:23 I don't want any part of this. Over the internet, you don't have that ability to judge someone's demeanor and judge whether you think this is someone you want to do business with. You're just opening up a door and allowing anyone who wants to come through it to do so. DocuSearch claimed they, quote,
Starting point is 00:44:44 could not have reasonably foreseen that providing Liam Yowans with Amy Boyer's work address would result in a premeditated murder. They called the expectation that they search records of each prospective client unreasonable and asked, are we supposed to give every client a personality disorder exam? DocuSearch also argued that providing Liam with Amy's work address was incidental, given he knew her home address anyway. As far as DocuSearch and similar companies were concerned, even if the sale of personal information was blocked, this information was still easily obtainable.
Starting point is 00:45:26 In Amy's case, DocuSearch said, The fact that we're being sued for providing public information is absurd. It's not a secret where Amy works. Her neighbors, her friends, know where she worked. They also said pretexting was a perfectly legitimate way of private investigation, and accused the lawsuit of being motivated by money. In March 2004, four years after Amy's murder, the Remsbergs received an $85,000 settlement from DocuSearch.
Starting point is 00:46:04 It was as close to justice being served as they could expect. But it wasn't about the money. Amy's family simply wanted to fuel awareness about the way private information was sold on the internet. Tim Remsburg has since facilitated a reproduction of Amy Boyard.com that people to educate themselves, explaining, If just one person in the whole white internet would have told us about this page, we would have heard a very merry Christmas.
Starting point is 00:46:41 Tim and Helen Ramsberg appeared on news programs around the country and testified before Congress to support new laws on internet privacy. Tim said, Not a minute goes by that your thoughts don't revert back to it. You can get engrossed in a project, but as soon as you're done you think of Amy and how mad it makes you. In October 2000, Amy Boyer's Law was introduced to address the issue of cyber stalking. It highlighted problems like inconsistent stalking laws between states, as well as gun control and the sale of personal information without consent.
Starting point is 00:47:21 Amy Boyer's Law spurred a discussion over privacy versus protection. Ultimately, it wasn't enacted. Helen Remsburg warned parents. We want other people to do what we didn't know how to do back then. Put your name, your children's names in a search engine, and see what might be out there. Liam Yeowen's behavior has been used as a guide to help identify the potential for explosive violence in young men. Red flags include obsessive behavior, irritability, poor judgement, death threats and with the
Starting point is 00:48:00 drawl. Although as one detective can see it, it's impossible to rationalize Liam's irrational mind and therefore one cannot expect any closure. When Amy's funeral was held in downtown Nashua, a large crowd of mourners gathered, including loved ones, locals, the media and police. Liam's funeral was held the following afternoon.
Starting point is 00:48:28 Only his family attended. Amy's 11 year old sister struggled to comprehend what led to Amy's death. When her father delivered the news, she pounded against his chest, wailing, why daddy? Amy's sister later up and a letter to Liam Yowen's family seeking answers. In it, she asked.
Starting point is 00:48:55 How come you never asked him, how was your day? Why didn't you play games with him? you

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