The former Columbia Police chief is defending the department’s arrest of Ryan Ferguson and Chuck Erickson for the murder of Columbia Tribune Sports Editor Kent Heitholt.

Randy Boehm retired from the force in 2008, but has released a statement saying his department’s investigative team worked the case professionally and ethically … and that the people arrested for the crime in 2004 are the people he believes committed the murder.

Boehm also stands by former Boone County prosecutor Kevin Crane, saying he was an exceptional prosecutor of integrity and professionalism.
Ferguson was freed after ten years when an appeals court overturned his conviction, saying he did not receive a fair trial.