In one of the most predictable plot twists of all time, Thomas Boukamp—the Michigan man who groomed, cyberstalked, kidnapped, sexually abused, and literally de-braced-with-pliers a Lubbock teen—has filed a motion claiming his life sentence is unfair. Apparently, after spending years manipulating a 13-year-old, threatening her family, and hauling her across state lines, he’s now upset that his lawyers didn’t treat him gently enough.
Boukamp, who insisted on representing himself at trial (always a great move, right up there with “I alone understand the 13-year-old who loves me”), now says he only went to trial because he believed the victim still loved him. This belief collapsed when he asked her on the stand—yes, in open court—if she still cared for him. She said no. He cried. And the jury, presumably wondering why they were witnessing a creepy breakup scene instead of a legal defense, convicted him on all 16 counts.
Since then, Boukamp has tried every angle to undo his sentence, from “my lawyers weren’t good enough” to “my autism wasn’t explained enough” to “no one warned me she wouldn’t love me anymore.” The appeals courts have rejected all of it. But like a man who keeps hitting “undo” hoping Word will magically restore a deleted file, he’s back again—this time insisting that if he’d known his victim wouldn’t gush about him at trial, he’d have taken a plea. Bold strategy, Cotton.
If his latest appeal were somehow granted (spoiler: it won’t be), he’d walk free and never face retrial thanks to double jeopardy. Meanwhile, the girl he abused has to live with what he did forever. Funny how he seems to have fewer thoughts about that.
Is there a limit on how many times someone can file motions based on “I didn’t think the consequences would be this bad,” or does Lubbock need to pass an ordinance for that too?
