The year 1999 saw an assortment of tragic homicides, lives taken at the hands of someone else. People died over drug deals, in gang confrontations and during robberies and rapes.
The year also saw a strange variety of cases in which deaths had happened years earlier -- one as far back as 1982 -- but were not classified as homicides until this year because of evidence or a surprise confession. These new victims, these undiscovered victims, these victims whose cases are finally in the criminal justice system, deserve special mention.Ellen Anderson, 91, died Dec. 30, 1995, just one day after being admitted into the geriatric mental wing at the Davis Hospital in Layton. In the next 15 days, more deaths would follow at the unit, which was under the direction of Dr. Robert Weitzel, the staff psychiatrist:
Judith V. Larsen, 93, of Salt Lake City, died Jan. 3, 1996.
Mary R. Crane, 72, Salt Lake City, died Jan. 3, 1996.
Lydia M. Smith, 90, Centerville, died Jan. 8, 1996.
Ennis Alldredge, 83, of Millard County, died Jan. 14, 1996.
Weitzel became the subject of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Agency as well as the state Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing. By 1997, Layton police were investigating the deaths. Last summer, at least three of the victims' bodies were exhumed to determine if investigators' suspicions proved true.
Authorities believed Weitzel gave his patients excessive amounts of morphine, a drug used to relieve pain.
On Sept. 29, 1999, Weitzel, who by this time was practicing in Texas, was charged with five counts of murder, all-first degree felonies. He faces a preliminary hearing Jan. 27.
It was roughly 5,030 days -- or 14 years -- after Drucilla Ovard was killed that her murderer admitted to strangling the 83-year-old former schoolteacher.
The science of DNA technology caught up in 1999 to Daniel Ray Troyer, a 39-year-old serial killer who preyed on elderly women.
In June of 1999 he pleaded guilty to Ovard's 1985 death and admitted he killed Ethel Luckau, 88, another Salt Lake woman who was found dead in her home in 1988.
Investigator Michael George of the Salt Lake District Attorney's Office said authorities were determined to keep Troyer where he belonged -- permanently behind bars.
The people he admitted to killing are:
DeEsta Easthope, 54, who was found dead in her home in 1982. Although Easthope had a history of congestive heart failure, her family was troubled by the circumstances surrounding her death, including uncharacteristic nudity and an open door. Later, they discovered a gun missing. Nevertheless, her death was attributed to medical reasons, an autopsy was never performed and her family was left with nagging questions. Months later, they wanted her body exhumed to settle their doubts but were talked out of it.
Thelma Blodgett, 85, was killed July 11, 1985. Her body was found in a bathtub.
Drucilla Ovard, 83, was strangled in her home on July 17, 1985. Her family found her in the bathroom on the floor after she failed to answer the door. A mortician noticed ligature marks on her neck and notified police.
Ethel Luckau, 88, asphyxiated in her home on Aug. 17, 1988. She was found by relatives and, like Easthope, was naked. Her family said it was extremely unusual for her to not wear a nightgown. Police found bruises on her neck and arm, as well as a scratch. The house was tidy, and there was no sign of struggle.
Lucille Westerman, 73, died six weeks after she was found unconscious on her bed on Aug. 23, 1988. Her attack came one day after Luckau's funeral, something that had upset and troubled Westerman because she was Luckau's visiting teacher and had attended the service. At first, it appeared she had a stroke, but people at the hospital said there was evidence of assault.
Two other deaths from prior years resulted in charges in 1999.
Vivienne Smith, 11 months old, died Aug. 1, 1998, after her parents said she drowned in the bath tub. An investigation resulted in charges being filed late this year. Her parents, Shane and Joleen Smith, were charged in 1st District Court in Logan with child abuse homicide, a second-degree felony. They face trial in April. Medical evidence says the child suffered a brain injury and blunt force trauma to her back that would have resulted in paralysis if she had lived. Both Shane Smith, 27, and Joleen Smith, 23, remain in jail, and their other children are staying with relatives.
Wilfred Mark, 29, was shot and killed Jan. 7, 1996, near the Hatch Trading Post in San Juan County on the Northern Navajo Indian Reservation. A suspect was not charged in the crime until this year. On Oct. 6 a federal grand jury indicted Orlando Burke, 27, on a charge of homicide. Burke is scheduled to stand trial Feb. 7 in U.S. District Court.