Opinion ID: 2157140
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: State v. Robert Bolinger

Text: For approximately three days prior to murdering his twenty-three-year-old victim, Bolinger watched and followed her. On March 9, 1983, he broke into the victim's vacant apartment through a window to burglarize the victim's home and to get her. He soon heard her return and attempted to leave without being seen. However, the victim saw Bolinger so he attacked her. He grabbed her and stabbed her in the upper chest. He then tied her hands and feet, gagged her, and sexually assaulted her. Afterwards, he took money from her wallet and left. Bolinger was arrested for another rape and attempted murder. He confessed to committing that crime and two other crimes. He told a psychologist that he killed the victim because she reminded him of his stepmother who had physically abused him. Bolinger was charged with capital murder, felony murder, aggravated sexual assault, robbery, burglary, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. He pleaded guilty to felony murder and aggravated sexual assault, and received a term of thirty years with a ten year parole disqualifier. The AOC coded as present the c(4)(c) (torture or depravity) and the c(4)(g) (contemporaneous felony) aggravating factors and the c(5)(d) (diminished capacity), c(5)(f) (no significant criminal history) and the c(5)(h) (catch-all) mitigating factors. Bolinger is a Vietnam veteran who was addicted to alcohol and drugs and became intoxicated every day. At the time of the offense, Bolinger was thirty-six-years-old and had been employed for two weeks as a meter reader. He had no prior criminal record.