HOULTON – A Houlton man who is accused of brutally beating and stabbing a woman to death in her motel room in December 2005 is scheduled to be back in court this week.

Daniel Boles, 31, is scheduled to appear in Aroostook County Superior Court on Thursday, his attorney, Christopher Leger, said Tuesday.

The outcome of the hearing could result in Boles pleading guilty to felony murder, a charge that likely would result in a lesser sentence than if he were convicted of intentional or knowing murder.

Boles was indicted by the Aroostook County grand jury on a charge of intentional or knowing murder last January in the death of 57-year-old Jacqueline Shorey. He pleaded not guilty to the crime and has since been incarcerated at the Aroostook County Jail in Houlton.

He was scheduled to go to trial on May 14.

Assistant Attorney General Andrew Benson confirmed last week that the felony murder charge would be filed.

A conviction for felony murder carries a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, according to Benson. A conviction for intentional or knowing murder carries a sentence of 25 years to life.

The felony murder charge alleges that an unlawful homicide took place during the commission or attempted commission of a felony by the accused.

Leger acknowledged Tuesday that Boles could enter a guilty a plea to the charge, but stressed that nothing was final at this point.

If he were to enter a guilty plea, sentencing likely would be held at a later date.

Shorey’s body was found inside a blood-spattered room at the Scottish Inns motel on Bangor Street on Dec. 9, 2005. An autopsy determined that the former phlebotomist and school bus driver had died of “multiple trauma to the head and neck” and had been beaten and stabbed.

Investigators believe that Shorey checked into the motel on Dec. 6, and was scheduled to appear at a hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on Dec 9. She then planned to return to Louisiana.

When Shorey did not appear for the hearing, friends asked motel staff to check on her well-being. Her body was discovered later that evening.

According to an affidavit filed by Maine State Police Detective Joshua Haines, Boles said that he had purchased drugs from Shorey on Dec. 4, but denied that he murdered her.

He then implicated two other individuals in the crime.

Boles reportedly told investigators that he sat in a vehicle on Dec. 9 while two other men went inside Room 136 of the Scottish Inns to rob her of drugs and cash.

He claimed that the duo had come to his home that morning and asked him for a ride to the motel to carry out a plan to knock Shorey unconscious and “take her drugs and money.”

The victim’s son, Tim Shorey, was incarcerated at the time of the incident and told investigators that his mother had returned to Maine from Louisiana on Dec. 1, and had planned to sell both her own and his prescriptions for oxycodone and Percocet to raise $10,000 needed for his bail.

According to Boles, the two men whom he accompanied to the motel walked into Shorey’s room and then ran out to the car five to seven minutes later with blood on their hands.

The two allegedly told Boles “she resisted” when he asked them what had happened. Boles said he then went into Shorey’s room, touched her neck and determined that she was dead.

There were no weapons present in the room, according to the affidavit. Boles added that after the trio left the scene, one of the men gave him four pills and some cash and that both men told him not to speak about the incident or they would kill him.

Boles voluntarily submitted fingerprints and a DNA sample to police.

During interviews with police, the two implicated by Boles denied their involvement in the murder and have not been charged.

Investigators maintain that a detective saw apparent bloodstains in a bathroom of a home where Boles is alleged to have changed his pants on Dec. 9.

State police Detective Dale Keegan also saw “small cuts” on the knuckles of Boles’ right hand during an interview Dec. 11, cuts he said he believed appeared recent.

The suspect said that he suffered the injuries after ripping the spark plug wires out of the family car during a spat with his girlfriend.

The woman confirmed the story to police.

In a subsequent interview, the woman told police that on Dec. 4, she, Boles and another individual had purchased pills from the victim. She also said that later that same day, Boles and another person had concocted but later abandoned a plan to rob Shorey at another motel.