A woman who faces murder and arson charges but who has suffered brain damage and a stroke has been placed in her parents' care.
Tonya Vosburgh, 33, is the subject of a custody dispute between her parents and her husband and co-defendant, John Vosburgh.Brooks and Geraline Watson, Tonya Vosburgh's parents, say their daughter suffered brain damage as a result of a fall in July and a subsequent stroke that resulted in her being hospitalized for several weeks.
On Dec. 2, 2nd District Judge W. Brent West granted the Watsons control of their daughter's legal defense while medical decisions were left to the discretion of doctors at LDS Hospital in Salt Lake City, where she was a patient.
The judge held off making a decision on who will get full guardianship until a lawyer could be appointed to represent the woman's interests.
But at a hearing Thursday, the Watsons' attorney, Clella Lawrence, said Vosburgh had been released from the hospital and placed in her husband's care.
The Watsons have said their daughter has the mental capacity of an 8-year-old and has no memory of the events surrounding the death of Bobbi Jo Womack, an 18-year-old mentally retarded woman the Vosburghs were caring for.
Prosecutors allege the Vosburghs set the garage fire that killed Womack in order to collect on a $100,000 life insurance policy.
The Watsons claim Vosburgh used his wife's mental state to manipulate her and might harm her.
Vosburgh's attorney, Brad Rich, denied the allegations.
Lawrence told the court Vosburgh has a history of violence, including a March 1992 battery conviction stemming from a dispute with his wife and a 1983 conviction of forcible sodomy of another woman.
West said since the Vosburghs are defendants in the criminal case, giving Vosburgh guardianship over his wife would be a conflict of interest.
He scheduled a hearing for Jan. 7 at which time, he said, Vosburgh could speak on the guardianship issue.
Mrs. Vosburgh's attorney is expected to file a petition to have her ruled mentally incompetent to stand trial.