Pennsylvania police believe a case of mistaken identity led to the shooting death of Timothy “Asti” Davison of Poland, Maine, in the early hours of Jan. 4, 2014, as he was driving north on Interstate 81 in Franklin County, Pennsylvania.
Police have charged John Wayne “Boo” Strawser Jr., 38, of Terra Alta, West Virginia, with first degree murder in the shooting death of Davison, according to information released Monday by the Pennsylvania State Police.
Strawser is being held in West Virginia on an unrelated murder charge, according to the Pennsylvania police.
Davison, 28, placed a 911 call about 2 a.m. that January in 2014, as he traveled home alone to Maine from Florida through Washington County, Maryland, and reported that he was being chased and shot at by someone driving a dark-colored Ford Ranger pickup truck, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed by the Franklin County Pennsylvania district attorney.
The chase continued into Pennsylvania, where Davison’s Mitsubishi Montero was forced off Interstate 81 into the median. While Davison was on the phone with Pennsylvania State Police, the sounds of gunfire, a vehicle’s engine revving, squealing tires and a vehicle accelerating away from his location were heard, according to the affidavit.
Davison was found in the driver’s seat of his Mitsubishi Montero with gunshot wounds to the left hand, right leg and head. He died a short time later at a local hospital.
It appears Strawser mistook Davison’s vehicle for a silver Honda Pilot owned by Jamie Breese, who told investigators earlier this year that he had been threatened by Strawser in the hours before the shooting, according to the affidavit.
Last April, Breese contacted the Pennsylvania State Police to report Strawser had been “hunting” him and his wife the night Davison was killed.
Breese told police Strawser had been arrested in West Virginia for the murder of former girlfriend Amy Lou Buckingham, that he drove a dark-colored Ford Ranger and that he frequently flew into rages.
Breese said Strawser had stalked his wife, Courtney Breese, in the past and that people told him that Strawser had threatened to kill him “to get to Courtney.”
Jamie Breese’s wife told Pennsylvania police she had known Strawser for years and admitted to having a relationship with him while married.
She described him as unpredictable, possessive and violent and said he had stalked her in person and through phone texts.
On the night of Jan. 4, 2014, Breese said he and his wife were leaving a West Virginia bar when he received texts and calls from Strawser threatening them and demanding to know their location.
At the time, the Breeses were traveling the same route as Davison, and Breese told police he believed Strawser also was nearby looking for the couple.
Checks of Strawser’s cellphone records by the Pennsylvania police place him in the area at the same time Davison made his first 911 call.
The morning after Davison was killed, Breese saw news reports about the shooting and suggested to his wife that Strawser could have done it, but she dismissed the idea, and he let it go until after Strawser was arrested in the death of Buckingham.
In May, Pennsylvania police met with members of the West Virginia State Police, who had recovered a .44-caliber Rossi Ranch Hand pistol from a field near Strawser’s home and .44-caliber ammunition in his home. The gun was subsequently linked to a spent brass casing from a .44-caliber bullet as well as fired bullets and fragments that were recovered from Davison’s vehicle and the scene in Pennsylvania.
Also found at the scene was a damaged emblem from a Ford Ranger XLT and paint transfer on Davison’s car was matched to a specific paint used by Ford Motor Company.
West Virginia police also recovered Strawser’s Ford Ranger at his home, and Pennsylvania police allegedly discovered gunshot residue on the driver’s side headrest, seat and ceiling.
DNA samples collected at the scene of the Davison shooting also were matched to Strawser, who had originally denied being in the area to Pennsylvania police when they interviewed him in the West Virginia Tygart Valley Regional Jail.
Strawser told police he had been driving a coal truck far to the west of Franklin County on the night of the shooting, but his employer at the time told police he had not been working at the time.
When arrested and charged in the Davison case, Strawser already was being held in jail and charged with murder in connection with the death of Amy Lou Buckingham of West Virginia, who had been in a past relationship with Strawser, according to a report in the Preston County News Journal.
Strawser is accused of shooting Buckingham outside her home on April 17.
Few leads had been released by Pennsylvania police in the 18 months since Davison’s shooting and a reward for information had grown to $62,000, funded largely by friends and family.
News of a possible arrest and charges were welcomed by Davison’s longtime friend Theresa Hemond of Minot on Monday.
“I’m still hurting about [Davison’s] death, and I probably will for the rest of my life,” Hemond said. “I am excited that they caught someone, and I am very happy for the police departments that are involved.”
Hemond said the arrest didn’t change much for her.
“The only thing that comes from all this is that this person won’t take someone else away from their family and friends like they did to Asti,” she said.
The Facebook page Justice for Asti Davison had been updated Monday to thank the public for its continued support during the 18-month investigation.
“Rest easy that the killer is off the streets,” a family member states on the post.
Davison’s mother, Theresa Allocca, said in July that she continued to receive many calls from people following the case on social media and that she and her three remaining children struggled with the loss of “Asti” daily. Efforts to reach Allocca on Monday were unsuccessful.
“As a parent, it is really difficult,” she said in July. “You have all these new holidays, and you are constantly trying to figure out what the new ‘normal’ is. It’s been hard on his sisters, brother and his grandparents and cousins.”
In July, Officer Rob Hicks, spokesman for Pennsylvania State Police Troop H in Harrisburg, said police had not given up on finding the shooter.
“The arrest is definitely giving some closure to the family,” Hicks said Monday. “It’s a good day.”
