Robert Sant, whose daughter Sharon was killed and dismembered in 1985, thought that the conviction of George Wesley Hamilton two years ago would lay the case to rest.
But as testimony began Tuesday in Hamilton's retrial, Sant again found himself reliving the anger and heartache he experienced during the first trial."I had hoped to be all done with it," he said. "I just hope to hell we can nail him this time. But you never know what a jury will decide."
Hamilton, who was sentenced to five years to life in prison on the second-degree-murder charge, was granted a new trial on grounds of jury misconduct.
The defendant is charged with murdering Sharon Sant, 19, who disappeared Aug. 1, 1985, while hitchhiking from Cedar City to Fillmore to attend a funeral. A road crew found her mutilated torso Aug. 16, 1985, in a shallow grave off an I-15 exit at Cove Fort, Millard County.
In proceedings Tuesday, witnesses testified that Sharon Sant's body had been mutilated with some type of blunt cutting tool, and that only her unclad torso was found in the grave. Her head, right hand, left arm and both feet had been cut from the body with the tool, while her breasts had been severed with some type of sharp knife. Except for one breast, the body parts remain missing.
Then-State Medical Examiner Edwin S. Sweeney testified that the torso was identified as Sant's by comparing an X-ray of Sant taken before the murder with X-rays of the torso.
Sweeney said he was unable to identify any bruises or abrasions on the body, except a 15-inch cut from the chest to the pubic bone. He said such a cut could have allowed someone to remove the uterus, which was not found when the body was examined.
Other testimony Tuesday centered on the crime scene, discovered by Utah Department of Transportation workers, and evidence gathered there.
As he did during Hamilton's first trial, 4th District Judge George E. Ballif repeatedly admonished jurors - six men and two women - not to read or watch media reports of the trial. Ballif ruled in February that a newspaper story about the first trial, which a juror brought into deliberations on Aug. 20, 1987, had tainted the verdict and was grounds for a retrial.
"That person should have been prosecuted," Robert Sant said in reference to the juror. What upsets Sant most about a new trial, he said, is that "there's always a chance he (Hamilton) could get off. The thing against us is time - people do forget."
Opening statements Tuesday by the defense and prosecution indicate that the retrial will closely parallel the first trial, and that the strategy of the defense will be the same: Blame the murder on a drifter named Robert William Bott.
Defense attorney Fred Metos, who is being assisted by Doug Wahlquist, fingered Bott as the killer, and he reminded jurors that Hamilton is innocent until proven guilty.
Bott, from Montana, was arrested with Hamilton in early 1986 following a tip to Cedar City Police. After his arrest, Bott told authorities he and Hamilton had picked up Sant and taken her to a ranch in Paragonah, north of Cedar City. He said he passed out later while drinking, but said Hamilton was making sexual advances toward Sant.
Millard County Attorney Warren Peterson, following the first trial, said Bott changed his story after believing he had been granted immunity. Bott later admitted being at the murder scene, claimed Sharon Sant had been raped and that Hamilton had killed her.
Besides Hamilton's accusations against Bott and his own incriminating statements, which Ballif ruled could not be used against Bott because he believed he had been granted immunity, authorities had no other evidence on which to try Bott.
Bott was held on a witness warrant, but was released Aug. 17, 1987, because authorities felt they couldn't get reliable, consistent testimony from him.