Defense attorneys for Steven Ray Stout who is charged with two counts of first-degree murder - want to close pretrial hearings to the public and press.
Brooke Wells, of the Legal Defenders Office, will argue Tuesday before 3rd Circuit Judge Eleanor Van Sciver that pretrial publicity will deny Stout "his rights to due process of law as guaranteed by the Fifth and 14th amendments to the U.S. Constitution and Article I of the Utah Constitution," according to a motion filed Tuesday with the court.Stout, 32, is scheduled for a Jan. 18 preliminary hearing on charges he stabbed, strangled and beat Bonnie Craft, 41, and her daughter, Maureen Turner, 19, on Jan. 22, 1988, at their West Valley residence.
The girlfriend of Stout reported to FBI agents that Stout told her he was the suspect after watching a TV story about the crime.