Utah County public defender Steven Killpack granted the wish of state prosecutors Wednesday and agreed not to help defend Ronald W. Lafferty on capital murder charges.
Trying to remove any grounds for an appeal should Lafferty be convicted a second time of killing his sister-in-law and her infant daughter more than 10 years ago, the state attorney general's office said Killpack had a conflict with the case and asked 4th District Judge Steven L. Hansen to remove him as co-counsel to Mike Esplin.Prosecutors said Killpack was involved in the initial prosecution of Lafferty while working as deputy attorney for Utah County. Killpack volunteered to remove himself from the case and said Linda Anderson, another public defender, would assist Esplin in defending Lafferty. Killpack must have no communication with Anderson about the case.
On July 24, 1984, Brenda Wright Lafferty, 24, and Erica Lafferty, 18 months, were found in their American Fork apartment with their throats slashed. Lafferty and his brother, Dan, were both convicted of the crimes.
However, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals later reversed Ron Lafferty's conviction.