Man sentenced in killing of girlfriend’s father
Matthew R. Boyer pleads guilty to third-degree murder
A Montgomery County man was sentenced Tuesday in Berks County Court to 30 to 60 years in state prison for killing his girlfriend’s father in 2017.
Matthew R. Boyer, 35, of Douglass Township pleaded guilty before Judge Patrick T. Barrett to third-degree muder and related charges in the death of Stephen Kriebel, 58, of Colebrookdale Township
The sentence was based on a plea agreement between Assistant District Attorney Daniel Troy and Boyer’s attorney, Adam J. Sager of Pottstown.
Police did not provide a motive for the slaying. According to police: Boyer left his house about 6:30 a.m. Dec. 28, 2017, taking with him a bag that contained a ski mask, a gun and a baseball bat.
He went to Kriebel’s home in the 100 block of Cleaver School Road. He used his girlfriend’s key to get inside and went upstairs to confront Kriebel over a dispute involving Kriebel’s wife, Virginia.
Virginia was home at the time of the killing. She witnessed the beginning of the fight between her husband and Boyer in the bedroom, but the men were in another room when Boyer fired the fatal shots.
Boyer was taken into custody later in the day after being spotted and chased, first in a vehicle and then on foot, by Boyertown police.
He told police that he planned on turning himself in to Colebrookdale police but first wanted to go home and tell his girlfriend what he had done.