A West Valley man convicted of killing his ex-wife and trying to cover up the crime by setting her body afire was sentenced Friday to five years to life in the Utah State Prison.
On Oct. 7, a 4th District jury found Joe F. Jiron, 25, guilty of first-degree murder for killing Shelly Ann Jiron, 22, on Dec. 17, 1991. He also was found guilty of third-degree arson.Shelly Ann Jiron's nude body was found in the driver's seat of her wrecked car about 10 miles southwest of Lehi off U-68. The car traveled about 700 feet through short brush and became wedged in a gully. Joe Jiron was found unconscious and badly burned in the passenger seat.
Experts testified at the trial that the inside of the car had been doused with gasoline and burned by a small flash fire. Medical examiners ruled that Shelly Ann Jiron died of asphyxiation prior to the fire. Investigators found evidence of a second crime scene about two miles from the wrecked car.
Jiron's attorneys said their client suffers from amnesia and asked Judge Cullen Y. Christensen to send him to prison for a 90-day diagnostic evaluation. However, Christensen said the circumstantial evidence presented at the trial showed Shelly Ann Jiron's death was not accidental and that a prison sentence was justified. In letters to Christensen, Jiron's family said the crime was contrary to Jiron's past behavior and that they believed the case was a set-up.
"I have a difficult time believing with all the facts presented in this case that there was any such thing," Christensen said.