PROVO — A suppression hearing is scheduled in 4th District Court in September, where attorneys for a Riverton man charged with capital murder will argue that an alleged confession to police should not be allowed at trial.
Seth Rollins Broomhead, 20, appeared before Judge Steven Hansen on Tuesday for a review hearing, at which Utah County public defender Richard Gale requested the Sept. 24 and 27 hearing.
Broomhead is awaiting trial on two counts of capital murder in connection with a June 13, 2003, incident at an Orem tree nursery in which Pablo Montoya, 20, and Maritza Aguilar, 22, were shot and killed.
Prosecutors presented evidence at a preliminary hearing on April 13 and 14 that Broomhead confessed to the execution-style slayings of Montoya and Aguilar, during an Oct. 15 interview at the Davis County Jail.
Gale said following Tuesday's hearing that the tape recordings of what Broomhead said are not complete.
"The part where he denied it (the alleged killings) was tape recorded," Gale said. "The part where he supposedly made some admissions was not."
Salt Lake County Sheriff's Sgt. Rosie Rivera testified in April that Broomhead initially said his roommate, Jeremy Gerton, 21, was in the back seat of the couple's car with him and that Gerton was the shooter. She said Broomhead then changed his story, began to sob and said he was alone in the back of the car.
Orem detective Wade Raab said when Broomhead was asked why he shot Aguilar, whom Gerton described as a friend of Broomhead's, Broomhead cried and said, "I don't know."
Also during the preliminary hearing, Utah County public defender Tom Means called two officers present at the alleged confession to explore information about tape recordings of the interview. Rivera said her tape ran out before Broomhead's story changed. Another tape recorder malfunctioned.
Means asked the officers if Broomhead had asked for an attorney. Rivera, FBI agent Juan Becerra and Orem Police Sgt. Barry Nielsen each testified that Broomhead said his attorney had told him not to talk to police.
But each also said Broomhead agreed to speak after they assured him the interview was about the Orem shooting and not federal robbery cases for which he was being held in Davis County.
Broomhead pleaded not guilty to the capital murder charges on May 18.
Utah County prosecutor Sherry Ragan asked that a trial date be set on Tuesday, but Means objected. Means said the defense needs more time to do some investigations independent of the state investigations. Means told Hansen he would file a written brief explaining why the defense needs more time before a trial date is set.
E-mail: shelps@desnews.com