by Kate Shunney
A Maryland man was sentenced in Morgan County Circuit Court on Monday to life in prison with mercy, and two additional prison sentences associated with crimes he committed when he brutally killed a southern Morgan County man in March of 2023.
Ian P. Bosben-Grayson, 32, sat in the Berkeley Springs courtroom in orange prison garb with his two defense attorneys on Monday afternoon as members of the victim’s family and friends settled into court seating for the sentencing.
Bosben-Grayson beat and stabbed Geoffrey Reed, 75, to death in his home on Spring Lane on March 9. Police and Prosecuting Attorney Dan James described the murder scene as the most brutal many had seen in their careers.
“In all my years as a prosecutor, I don’t know that I’ve seen anything as vicious as what I saw at the victim’s,” said James.
Reed’s companion, who made an initial call for a welfare check on Reed from her Pennsylvania home, also described the location where Reed died and said she has been traumatized by the brutality of what she saw there.
She described their close relationship and what kind of man he was, saying Reed was “usually the smartest man in the room” who was a faithful member of his church and spent his life helping people.
She told the court she now suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of seeing Reed after he was murdered.
“Ian gave Geoff no mercy whatsoever. Geoff and I lost our future together,” she told the court.
Acknowledging that the prosecution and defense had reached a binding plea agreement that granted mercy to Bosben-Grayson, Reed’s companion said, “It is my wish he dies an old man in prison and never gets a chance for parole…Ian took Geoff from everyone who knew and loved him.”
Reed’s daughter also spoke to the court. She said not a day went by when she didn’t miss her father, who was her sounding board.
She said Bosben-Grayson was considered part of the family because of her father’s early mentoring of him as a teen, but he had shown “unimaginable rage” in the murder of her father.
“You snuffed out the light of someone who helped so many,” she said.
A statement from Reed’s sister was read as well. She told the court that Bosben-Grayson is mentally ill and a hazard to the public.
“He is and will be very dangerous to others,” she wrote.
Bosben-Grayson, who pled guilty to first degree murder ahead of a trial on the case, opted not to say anything to the court on Monday, except to answer Circuit Judge Debra McLaughlin when she asked him direct questions.
Prior to final sentencing, Prosecutor Dan James said in preparing for a trial he learned a lot about Reed, and found that many people remembered him for lending help over the years.
In combing Reed’s cell phone to find any reasoning for the murder, James said on the contrary he found lots of family photos and a video of Reed with his companion. James asked the court to impose the agreed-upon sentence.
Judge McLaughlin sentenced Ian Bosben-Grayson to life in prison with mercy on the felony charge of first-degree murder.
“Just because the court is granting mercy doesn’t mean you will receive it from the parole board,” Judge McLaughlin said.
She also sentenced Bosben-Grayson to 1-10 years for grand larceny, stemming from the theft of Reed’s vehicle from the murder scene, and to 10 years in prison for fraud in connection with an access device for trying to use Reed’s bank card to make a purchase in Berkeley Springs after the murder. All of the sentences will be served back to back.
Addressing the victim’s family, Judge McLaughlin offered her condolences for their loss. She said reading various letters prior to sentencing let her get a sense of Reed and the effects of his help for people over the years.
“He’s left his mark on the world behind him,” the judge said.
