Carbon County
1. June 27 - Wade Ward, 33, Huntington, was killed during a struggle with Carbon County deputy sheriff Mark Watkins following a domestic dispute with his girlfriend in Wellington. Watkins responded to the incident and pulled his car behind Ward's vehicle, which then backed into the patrol car. The two got out of their vehicles, and Ward wrestled Watkins' baton away from him. During the struggle, Watkins was struck with the baton and Ward was shot. Watkins was placed on routine administrative leave during an investigation that concluded the shooting was justified. Method: shot. Motive: self-defense.
Davis County
1. Oct. 18 - Jalen Holloman, 4 months, 198 W. 200 North in Bountiful, was taken by his mother to a Layton pediatrics care center with breathing problems. Physicians diagnosed shaken baby syndrome and transferred the infant to Primary Children's Medical Center. Doctors there determined the baby was brain dead, and the next day he was taken off life support. An autopsy determined death was caused by deliberate blunt force trauma to the head, resulting in a skull fracture and brain swelling. Police say the mother, Tonya Holloman, 21, was at work during the day and the father, Brandon Holloman, 28, was taking care of the baby when the injuries occurred between 24 and 36 hours before he was first taken to the clinic. No arrests have been made. The case is being reviewed by the Davis County Attorney's Office. Method: blunt force. Alleged motive: child abuse.
Morgan County
1. July 31 - Rick Lane Woitaszewski, 34, died after his ex-girlfriend's ex-husband put him in a headlock, which blocked his carotid arteries. Woitaszewski forced himself into his ex-girlfriend's Mountain Green home, which led to a fight with Mark Andrew Powers, 27, Roy. Powers had been having dinner with his ex-wife after delivering an alimony payment. Woitaszewski was intoxicated and started the fight because he wanted to see an infant child he had with the woman. The woman was afraid he would try to take the child and called police. Powers used the choke hold to detain Woitaszewski until police arrived. Police found Woitaszewski unconscious. Powers was charged with manslaughter, a second-degree felony, but pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of negligent homicide, a class A misdemeanor. He was sentenced to serve four months in the Weber County Jail. Method: strangled. Motive: domestic.
San Juan County
1. Dec. 22 - An unidentified woman was found buried under twigs and branches about 60 feet off U.S. 666. Authorities said a motorist driving on the road about 12 miles east of Monticello saw a white teddy bear lying at the side of the highway. Turning around to investigate, the motorist then spotted a bloody coat and called police. The woman, in her mid-20s, had suffered head trauma and was partially clothed. Investigators believe she was killed elsewhere and taken to the remote site after 3 a.m. on Dec. 22. Autopsy results are pending. Method: unknown. Motive: unknown.
2. Jan. 19 - Chrystal G. Dale was stabbed once in the chest with a kitchen knife in what investigators say was an ongoing dispute over the affections of a man both she and Ophelia Cantsee claimed as their boyfriend. Cantsee was charged with voluntary manslaughter in federal court because the crime occurred on the White Mesa Ute Indian Reservation. Dale's brother, Jacob Dale, was also stabbed during the fight but recovered. Cantsee's trial is scheduled for Jan. 26, 1998. Method: stabbed. Alleged motive: domestic.
Sanpete County
1. Dec. 25 - George Emmett, 58, was found shot dead in his Moroni home at 11 a.m. the day after Christmas by friends. He was apparently the victim of a robbery as several guns were stolen from his home. Police believe Emmett was shot either in the late hours of Dec. 25 or early in the morning of Dec. 26. Investigators say they are looking for two men, Santiago Nunez Mendez, 26, and Santiago Garcia, 22, who are wanted for questioning in connection with the shooting. Method: shot. Motive: robbery.
2. Dec. 26 - Alfonso Duran, age unknown, of Ephraim, was shot and killed in his trailer home on the ranch where he worked. He was found by his employer on the morning of Dec. 27. Sanpete County authorities believe the shooting took place sometime on the night of Dec. 26. Police are searching for two male suspects identified as Sanatiago Nunez Mendez, 26, and Santiago Garcia, 22, who are wanted for questioning. They believe both men, who were also working in the area, knew Duran and had an ongoing dispute with him. Investigators call it a "grudge killing." They also believe Duran's death is linked to the death of George Emmett. Method: shot. Motive: anger.
Sevier County
1. Dec. 28 - Dean V. Nielsen, 70, was beaten in the head with a blunt object in his Salina apartment. Sevier County sheriff's deputies found prescription drugs and other belongings of Nielsen on the shore of Salt Creek and grew suspicious. They entered his apartment Dec. 28 and found his body. An autopsy revealed that he had died from blows to the head from a blunt object, such as a baseball bat. Deputies arrested Cindy J. Johnson, 34, a neighbor of Nielsen, and she was charged with murder. Police said Nielsen paid Johnson to do some light housework, cooking and chores. Nielsen and Johnson had had conflicts in the past, police said. Method: beaten. Motive: unknown, possibly robbery, drugs.
Tooele County
1. Feb. 25 - Ronald Reed Peterson, 38, Kearns, was found dead in a remote part of Tooele County March 1 by three horseback riders. Jimmy Dean Meinhard, 50, Millcreek, was charged with murder, a first-degree felony. Prosecutors say Meinhard stabbed Peterson in his car and dumped his body at the base of the Oquirrh Mountains. Meinhard apparently thought Peterson had stolen some of his tools, prosecutors say. Investigators believe Meinhard went back to the scene to remove incriminating evidence three days after the slaying. Prosecutors dropped a murder charge against Meinhard's former roommate, Larry Thomas Taylor, 52, after he agreed to plead guilty to an evidence tampering charge and will testify against Meinhard, who is scheduled to go to trial Jan. 13. Taylor was sentenced to a year in jail. Method: stabbed. Alleged motive: theft, anger.
Uintah County
1. Oct. 3 - An 11-year-old boy was shot and killed by a playmate while visiting his friend's Naples home. The suspect, a 12-year-old boy, allegedly shot the victim in the back of the head after showing off the handgun at 7 p.m. Authorities have refused to release either of the boys' names. Authorities have also refused to release the address of the home where the shooting took place. The suspect was originally in custody at a youth corrections facility but is now in his parents' custody. Uintah County prosecutors say that a plea agreement is in the works and that the suspect, who is currently charged with murder, will likely plead to a lesser charge. A hearing is set for sometime in February. Method: shot. Motive: unknown.
Utah County
1. April 29 - A newborn baby boy was found inside a toilet at a Mapleton home at 319 W. Maple St. Paramedics had responded to a call to assist Tifany Johnson, 25, Springville, who was found on the bathroom floor and hemorrhaging. An autopsy later revealed that the full-term fetus found inside the toilet was alive at birth and died from drowning. When she was interviewed by police, Johnson allegedly said she was unaware she was pregnant. She said she had taken home pregnancy tests that were negative. Police say no one in Johnson's family knew she was pregnant with her boyfriend's baby. However, prosecutors charged her in August with manslaughter, a second-degree felony. Johnson's attorney described her as "mentally challenged." A preliminary hearing has been set for Jan. 12, 1998. Method: drowning. Alleged motive: unknown.
2. July 25 - Stephanie Ann Woolfork, 18, Salt Lake City, was believed killed in an American Fork apartment and her body was taken to Spanish Fork Canyon, where it was dumped inside a culvert. Woolfork was last seen alive July 23 after she and her boyfriend, Michael J. Patterson, 19, Salt Lake City, were dropped off at 355 E. 500 South in American Fork. On July 26, Woolfork's family became concerned because they had not heard from her and because her roommate, Alexis Caldwell, had been shot in Salt Lake City the day before. Several days later, Patterson was arrested and booked into the Salt Lake County Jail for investigation of shooting Caldwell. On Aug. 24, two mountain bikers found Woolfork's decomposed body under some railroad tracks near Thistle in Spanish Fork Canyon. On Dec. 16, prosecutors charged Patterson with murder, a first-degree felony, in connection with Woolfork's death. Patterson remains in the Salt Lake County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court for a waiver hearing Jan. 2. Method: unknown. Alleged motive: domestic.
3. Aug. 3 - Wanda Gaylene Aplanalp Arnold, 35, was found dead in a Lehi home at 2967 N. 600 East by her husband, Edward Arnold. Early on the morning of Aug. 5, firefighters arrived at the home to find it fully engulfed by flames. Gaylene Arnold's badly charred body was found inside, but an autopsy revealed that she died before the fire was started. Lehi investigators believe Edward Arnold, 46, injected his wife with heroin Aug. 2. He allegedly told investigators he set the blaze to cover up his wife's death. Edward Arnold was charged with murder, a first-degree felony, as well as aggravated arson, evidence tampering and misuse of a dead body. He rejected a plea bargain offered by prosecutors and was scheduled for a preliminary hearing in October. However, his defense attorney requested that Arnold undergo a psychological evaluation because he has failed to assist in preparing his defense. A competency hearing has not been set. Method: drugs. Alleged motive: unknown.
4. Dec. 21 - Libby F. Drew, 36, was shot once in the head at her boyfriend's home on Bull River Road near Lehi. Drew was 17 weeks pregnant. When police arrived, Drew's boyfriend, Milo R. Simper, came out of the home and accompanied investigators to the Lehi Police Department to be interviewed. Simper, 34, was booked into the Utah County Jail later the same day for investigation of murder. He has not been charged in connection with the case but is being held on $250,000 bail. Prosecutors have not said whether they will allege two counts of murder because Drew was pregnant. A waiver hearing was set for Jan. 5, 1998. Method: shot. Alleged motive: domestic.
Washington County
1. Nov. 23 - The body of an unidentified woman between 25 and 35 years old was found about 25 yards from Old Highway 91 on Utah Hill, 10 miles north of the Arizona border. The woman's body was found shoeless and with bruises to her head. Detectives believe her body had been there for about 24 hours. She was 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighed 120 pounds and had strawberry-blond hair cut just above her shoulders. Her tattoos include an eagle's head on her left hand and a peace symbol above her right ankle. She was wearing Lee blue jeans, a tan pullover shirt and a twisted gold ring on her left hand. Washington County Attorney Eric Ludlow said it appears the woman had been beaten and killed elsewhere and then abandoned in the desert. Method: possibly beaten. Motive: unknown.
Weber County
1. Nov. 8 - Orvis A. Ward, 83, North Ogden, was found stabbed to death in a bedroom of his home by police after someone called 911 from the house and hung up. Ward's son, Thomas William Ward, 46, was charged with murder, a first-degree felony, two days later and is being held in the Weber County Jail on $20,000 bail. Judge Stanton Taylor ordered an evaluation to determine if Ward is competent to stand trial. A competency hearing is set for Feb. 9. Should Ward be deemed fit, a preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Feb. 20. Method: stabbed. Alleged motive: domestic.
2. Aug. 20 - Jessica Miranda Mendez, 28 days, Ogden, was taken to McKay-Dee Hospital Aug. 19 by her parents because the infant was having difficulty breathing and was turning blue. Emergency medical crews rushed the infant to Primary Children's Medical Center, where she died the next day. An autopsy revealed brain injuries attributable to shaken baby syndrome, as well as internal injuries that caused severe bleeding. Prosecutors charged the baby's father, Alejandro Rosario Miranda, 21, with murder saying he admitted in police taped interviews to punching the infant in the stomach five times. Miranda pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to stand trial Jan. 20, 1998. Method: beaten. Alleged motive: child abuse.
3. Aug. 25 - Erika Arroyo, 7, was raped, asphyxiated and thrown off a second- story window before her attacker hid her body behind some bushes in an alleyway behind her house, where her father later found her. Jorge Garcia, 25, confessed to the killing to Ogden police detectives, who picked him up at the Arizona border two weeks later as he was returning from his native Mexico, court documents state. Prosecutors say Garcia told two detectives he'd spent two days drinking and doing drugs. When Erika came into the apartment looking for his baby, something she did frequently, Garcia allegedly grabbed the girl from behind and proceeded to rape and strangle her. The girl's father, Rodolfo Arroyo, and another neighbor who'd been searching for Erika, found the girl's body hidden between some trees and a fence in the alley behind their west Ogden apartment. That night, Garcia boarded a bus to California and then fled to Mexico. Family members began to suspect Garcia in the girl's killing and apparently persuaded Garcia to give himself up. He crossed the border at Nogales, Ariz., on Sept. 9 and was held by immigration agents until Ogden police picked him up. Bound over after a preliminary hearing, Garcia is scheduled for trial Feb. 4. He is charged with capital murder. Method: asphyxiated and strangled. Alleged motive: unknown.
4. Oct. 4 - Mathew Mendoza, 17, was shot in front of the old Ogden School District building during an altercation between two gang members. The bullet grazed Mendoza's left arm before entering his chest near his heart. The shooting wasn't a drive-by shooting, but police have declined to divulge further details, fearing it would hamper the investigation. A suspect has not been identified. Method: shot. Motive: gangs.
5. Nov. 2 - Debbie Jean Jones, 20, died when a bullet fired by someone outside her house, 2076 Jefferson St. in Ogden, struck her left arm and ricocheted into her abdomen during a party she was hosting. People at the party said Jones had feuded with partygoers at a home across the street throughout the night. The conflict continued to smolder through the night until someone fired several shots from a handgun into Jones' home. One bullet went through the front door and hit Jones, who was standing just inside the doorway. She was taken to McKay-Dee Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Police were investigating whether the shooter fired from inside a vehicle or while standing outside. It was unclear whether the assailant shot at someone in particular or simply targeted the house. The same day, police questioned three people and searched a residence in connection with the homicide. Detectives said a day later there were several "strong suspects," but no arrests have been made. Method: shot. Motive: unknown.