Prosecutors said forensic testing and a confession tied Drew Botsford to the rifle used in the shooting.
MONTICELLO, N.Y. — A shell casing near a bedroom door, DNA on a rifle and a confession helped lead to a 25-years-to-life sentence for Drew Botsford in the killing of his father, Sullivan County prosecutors said.
The sentence handed down Friday by Sullivan County Court Judge James R. Farrell followed a March murder conviction and put the focus on the evidence jurors heard during a five-day trial. Botsford, 49, of Neversink, was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of Lloyd Botsford, 71, after prosecutors said he fired one rifle shot inside a Bradley Road home in 2023.
The physical record began inside the house at 39 Bradley Road in the Town of Neversink. State police investigators who processed the scene under a search warrant found a spent .22-caliber shell casing outside a bedroom door. Prosecutors said that location matched where Botsford later said he had stood when he fired. Investigators also recovered the .22-caliber rifle, which was found leaning against Lloyd Botsford’s bedroom dresser. Those two items became central pieces of the state’s case, linking the hallway, the bedroom area and the living room where the victim was found.
The crime laboratory work added another layer. The New York State Police Crime Laboratory tested the firearm for DNA and found Drew Botsford’s DNA on the forearm area, stock area, bolt area and trigger area of the rifle. Prosecutors said those locations were consistent with a person gripping and operating the weapon. The lab excluded Lloyd Botsford’s DNA from those areas. Prosecutors used that finding to argue that the elder Botsford had not handled the rifle in the same places tied to firing it. The defense record available from public statements does not show a detailed public response to that forensic claim.
Investigators said the evidence fit with Botsford’s own statement after his arrest. Prosecutors said he was interviewed at a New York State Police barracks and admitted that he had argued with his father before taking the .22-caliber rifle and shooting him once in the head. The district attorney’s office said Botsford told investigators he got into an argument with Lloyd Botsford, grabbed the rifle from his father’s bedroom closet, loaded a single round and fired. That account was presented with the casing, weapon location and DNA results during the trial.
The shooting itself took place at about 6 p.m. on Oct. 8, 2023. Prosecutors said the father and son had a verbal argument inside the residence. Immediately afterward, Drew Botsford went to the bedroom closet, took the rifle, found one .22-caliber round in a top drawer and loaded it into the chamber. He then walked down the hallway, squatted near the bathroom door and pulled the trigger. Lloyd Botsford was seated on a love seat in the living room watching football when the shot struck him in the head. Family members found him lying on the couch and called for emergency help. Responders tried to save him, but he died at the scene.
After the shot, prosecutors said, Botsford did not stay with his father or wait for police. They said he took about $1,668 in cash and tried to flee. He loaded his mother’s groceries into the back of his aunt’s vehicle, which was parked along the side of the residence and away from the arriving police presence. He then crossed the street to his uncle’s home and asked for the keys to that vehicle. The uncle refused. Prosecutors said Botsford then hid in the rear hatch area of the aunt’s vehicle, where he accidentally locked himself inside while law enforcement and emergency workers were at the property.
The next morning, the search shifted after Botsford got out of the vehicle. Authorities said that at about 7:30 a.m., he used a tire jack to smash through the rear hatch window. He then entered his aunt’s home. New York State Police were contacted and returned to take him into custody. The arrest gave investigators the chance to interview him and later compare his account with the crime scene. Prosecutors said the match between his statement and the location of the casing was one reason the proof was strong enough for conviction.
The case moved through Sullivan County Court over more than two years. A jury returned the guilty verdict on March 16, 2026, finding Botsford guilty of murder in the second degree, a Class A-I felony. Chief Assistant District Attorney Michael J. Puma prosecuted the case at trial. Tim Havas, executive director of the Sullivan County Legal Aid Society, represented Botsford. Farrell, the county judge, presided over the trial and later imposed the prison sentence. The district attorney’s office said the sentence was 25 years to life in a state correctional facility.
District Attorney Brian P. Conaty framed the outcome as a measure of accountability for a killing inside a family home. “Today’s sentence ensures that this defendant will spend the remainder of his life paying the price for this senseless and irreversible act,” Conaty said. After the verdict, he also praised the New York State Police for preserving evidence, interviewing witnesses, locating Botsford and obtaining the confession. Prosecutors described Lloyd Botsford as a loving husband, father and friend to people in Sullivan County.
The public record also shows a defense path ahead. Havas told the Times Herald-Record that he planned to appeal the jury’s verdict. He did not offer further public comment in that report. An appeal would not retry the case for a new jury, but would review claimed legal errors or issues from the trial record. For now, the conviction and sentence remain in place. The available record does not list a scheduled appellate argument date.
The case now stands as a completed trial judgment built on a confession, forensic testing and crime-scene recovery. Botsford has been sentenced to 25 years to life, and any next major development is expected to come through the appellate process.
Author note: Last updated June 16, 2026.