Schultz’s body found; motive for killing unknown

Bannock County Sheriff Lorin Nielsen said the body of Angelea “Leah” Schultz was found Friday.

Authorities were digging in a field in the Fort Hall Indian Reservation after the man who confessed to killing Schultz, her boyfriend, Boede Paul, told police where he had buried the body.

Paul held police in a standoff for several hours Wednesday. The standoff ended in a shootout with deputies killing Paul.

At 4:30 p.m. Friday, police say they found evidence at the site Boede Paul had indicated. Two hours later, they found the body of the Pocatello woman.

The sheriff said the body was found buried 10 to 12 feet underground, and that in the search more than an olympic sized swimming pool worth of dirt was dug up.

Paul worked for a contractor and had access to excavation equipment, and the body was buried at a work site on the reservation. Nielsen said searchers would not have found the body if Paul didn’t tell them where to look.

It appeared a baseball bat was used to kill Schultz. The bat, along with other evidence from the crime scene was found where Schultz was buried. The body will be sent to Boise for an autopsy, which will determine the cause of death and when she died.

Police also searched Paul’s home, where Schultz was also living, and found evidence indicating it was the main crime scene.

The sheriff said so far everything uncovered has been consistent with what Paul had told officers in his confession.

The sheriff said Paul’s confession was very graphic in detail, but he never gave any reason or motive for the killing.

Nielsen said Paul was the father of one of Schultz’s two children.