An aggravated murder charge against a former nurse who American Fork police say killed his wife two years ago by intravenously overmedicating her was reduced Tuesday to felony manslaughter.
Now 4th District Judge Claudia Laycock must decide if there is enough evidence against Peter Uluave, 34, to make him stand trial.
Uluave was in Laycock's courtroom Tuesday for a preliminary hearing that will conclude today. Testimony from police officers, family members and doctors filled in details of what happened the day Uluave's wife was found dead.
The prosecution is trying to prove Uluave killed his wife Rebecca by hooking her up to an IV drip on May 17, 2003, and giving her medication that slowed her heart rate. Uluave contends his wife, who had struggled with alcoholism, drug abuse and depression, took her own life.
American Fork Police Det. Keith Southard testified during Tuesday's hearing that he found Rebecca Uluave lying dead in her bed with a pinkish brown foam coming out of her mouth. The way her body was positioned and the manner of her dress seemed odd to Southard.
"I saw some things that didn't sit right with me," he said.
He noticed an IV bag and several syringes, including one under the woman's hand.
Uluave told police he had come home from work to find his wife in extreme pain and suffering from a panic attack, Southard said. Just weeks before, according to Uluave, she had accidentally slipped into a bathtub of scalding water, suffering third-degree burns.
Uluave also told police he tried to treat her by giving her pain killers and a beta blocker, which he administered through an IV. A beta blocker is a prescription medication that slows the heart rate.
"I asked him where he got the medical supplies from," Southard said. "He was kind of hesitant and nervous. He said he could get in trouble because they were taken from work."
Southard said Uluave then took him outside and showed him more medical supplies in a trash can.
Southard said Uluave told him that after he calmed his wife down he left her at about 12:30 p.m. to attend a baseball game where his boys, ages 11 and 9, were playing. He said he called his wife from the game, and she said she was feeling better, Southard testified.
When he returned 2 1/2 hours later, she was dead. After trying to revive her, he called his brother-in-law to pick up the children and then called police.
He said he dressed his wife and repositioned her body in the bed, Southard testified.
That day, Southard seized all the medical supplies he found in the house, which included four syringes, two saline bags and two vials of prescription medication.
A doctor and a nurse who once worked with Uluave told the court that Uluave shouldn't have administered the drugs without permission from a doctor and that he should have monitored his wife more closely after giving her the drugs.
"I would not have approved that (Uluave's actions)," said Dr. Douglas Smith, who supervised Uluave at the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center.
Uluave also faces a felony count of unprofessional conduct, a misdemeanor count of theft for allegedly taking medical supplies from work, and a felony charge of obstruction of justice.
Family members who testified Tuesday painted a picture of a stormy and violent marriage that may have contributed to Rebecca Uluave's death. Her mother, Shawna Craig, said her daughter suffered a broken jaw, numerous bruises and sore ribs in the year before her death. Rebecca blamed her bruises and cuts on accidents, like falling down the stairs, Craig said.
"She was having a few too many accidents," Craig said. "As a mother, it just seemed too often."
When her daughter fell in the bathtub and burned herself, Craig said she sat beside her in the ambulance. During the ride up to the burn center at University Hospital in Salt Lake, she said she got a call from her son-in-law.
"He told me, 'Shawna, I'm through with her. I'm done. You take her.' I just remember thinking how odd it was," Craig said. "The people in the ambulance are saying she's going in and out, his wife is dying, and he's washing his hands of her. He doesn't want anything to do with her."
Craig also said Uluave once threatened to kill her if she meddled with his family.
Rebecca Uluave's older brother, Gary Todd Glover, testified that his sister was severely depressed because of her drug dependence and domestic abuse.
He said she had attempted suicide at least once, and that Peter Uluave immediately suspected suicide when he found his wife dead.
Glover said Uluave called him to pick up his children shortly after finding his wife.
"His exact words were, 'Todd, I think she's done it this time. I need you to pick up my boys,' " Glover said. ". . . I can't revive your sister, I think she's dead. I don't want my boys to see her like this."
E-mail: jhyde@desnews.com