Double murderer Steven Ray Stout refused to attend his first Board of Pardons hearing Friday.
But the board member conducting the hearing said he would recommend to the full board that Stout never leave the prison.Stout was committed to the Utah State Prison Nov. 16, 1989, after being found guilty of the Jan. 22, 1988, murders of Bonnie Craft, 41, and her daughter, Maureen Tur-ner, 18, in their West Valley mobile home.
According to policy, Stout became eligible for an appearance before the board after serving three years of his sentence. Board member Don Blanchard, who conducted the hearing, said Stout had the option of attending but chose not to.
Blanchard said he had received about 20 letters from members of the victims' families when they were made aware of the hearing. Those letters and a review of Stout's background and the crimes he committed convinced him Stout should serve the full extent of his two five-years-to-life sentences.
Blanchard's opinion also followed the testimony of Salt Lake County chief prosecutor Sam Dawson and Shane Turner, Craft's son, who was the first to discover his murdered mother's body. "I often think of my mother and sister and what we would be doing right now if we were together," he said.
Stout had recently been divorced from Craft's sister at the time of the murders. Shane Turner said his mother and family did everything they could to help Stout through tough times. "He took his revenge on my mother and my sister, who were innocent," he said. "I would like to ask the board to never consider him for parole."
Stout served a prison sentence in Ohio for manslaughter before mov-ing to Utah. "Steven Stout has had several second chances," Dawson said. "I speak for all of the law enforcement officials who were involved - and for the family" in saying that Stout should serve the rest of his life in prison, he said.
After the murders, Stout stole Craft's car, which was later found wrecked and abandoned in a wooded area of West Virginia. Police there, aided by West Valley detectives, tracked Stout until he eluded them and relocated in Mississippi. In December 1988, Stout was featured on the television program "America's Most Wanted."
That viewing led to his arrest after the woman he was living with recognized pictures on the program and asked Stout, going by the alias Billy Johnson, if that was him. Stout told her he was the man police were looking for.
The full Board of Pardons is expected to review Blanchard's recommendations and rule on Stout's eligibility for parole next week.