Andover, Minnesota

Andover / Boyfriend, brother charged in killing

Police say woman's injuries weren't consistent with motorcycle crash
By Brady Gervais

bgervais@pioneerpress.com
Article Last Updated: 09/22/2008 10:48:50 PM CDT

Natasha Waalen had made a decision: Her boyfriend had to go.


They had an abusive relationship, friends said. Waalen wanted him gone at the end of the month.


But she didn't get to carry out her plan to split up with the father of her 4-year-old daughter.


Her body was found Friday in what initially appeared to be a motorcycle crash. But investigators quickly suspected that the accident had been staged to cover up a crime and that the boyfriend, Ryan Boland, was responsible.


The Anoka County attorney's office charged Boland, 33, on Monday with second-degree intentional murder and second-degree aiding and abetting a murder. Authorities are holding him on $1 million bail.


Police suspect his brother Timothy Boland, 31, played a role. They arrested him Saturday night in Hennepin County, and he is likely to be charged today. Evidence suggested Ryan Boland had help, the criminal complaint said.


"Preparing the motorcycle and strapping a deceased Ms. Waalen to it, would appear to require extensive time or assistance," authorities wrote in a complaint.


About 12:30 a.m. Friday, police received a call from a woman who found Waalen's body and the motorcycle in the 16800 block of Tulip Street in Andover. Waalen, of Anoka, carried no identification and wore jeans and a tank top. Police found a red "tie-down" — a nylon strap often used to securely hold cargo in the back of a truck — wound around her body and arms.


Investigators said Waalen, 28, sustained injuries that were inconsistent with an accident. She suffered multiple blows to the head. She was found barefoot but had no cuts, scrapes or marking on the bottoms of her feet that would corroborate pressure against the sharp steel footrests of the motorcycle, according to the complaint.

When detectives questioned Ryan Boland, he told them Waalen had about six beers and three tequila shots Thursday night. Then she walked to the garage, planning to leave on her motorcycle, he said. They argued when he tried to stop her, and the motorcycle fell over. But eventually, Waalen left.


Boland said their argument was not violent, but police noticed several scratches and deeper wounds near his neck. Boland said Waalen scratched him when he tried to stop her from leaving home.


She left about 10:45 p.m., he told police. The Anoka County medical examiner estimated she died about 10:40 p.m.


Searches revealed blood in Waalen's attached garage, in Boland's truck and on Waalen's motorcycle, according to the complaint. A portion of a carpeted area in the garage that appeared to be cut out was later found in a Dumpster a half-mile away. The piece, which appeared to have blood on it, matched the carpet in the garage. Parts from a broken orange plastic pressure clamp found in the truck were located at the crash scene.


A friend who had planned to move in with Waalen heard from her about three hours before her body was discovered. She told police that Waalen and Boland had an "abusive" relationship and that Waalen had "finally" told him to move.


Another friend and colleague described the relationship to police in similar terms. Waalen had told the friend she wanted to get a protection order. The friend said she gave Waalen information about child-custody issues last week.


Relatives were still reeling Monday from the double shock of what they thought at first was an accident and later learned was likely a homicide.


They said Waalen, an outdoors enthusiast, enjoyed family expeditions to the cabin every year for the fishing opener. Most of all, she loved her daughter.


"She loved her little girl to pieces," said Jennifer Waalen, a relative. "That just makes it all the more tragic — to know she's being taken from her little girl.
"

Brady Gervais can be reached at 651-228-2171.