A trial in a longtime cold-case murder of a young gas station attendant outside Brigham City has been rescheduled from this month to January 2007, and a judge has ruled that one defendant in the case can be forced to testify against another defendant.
Glenn Howard Griffin, 49, is charged with capital murder in the 1984 killing of Bradley Newell Perry, 21, who was working a night shift at a family-owned convenience store/gas station in Box Elder County when his skull was crushed and he was stabbed repeatedly with a screwdriver.
Prosecutors also have charged Wade Garrett Maughan, 51, with capital murder in Perry's slaying. Charging documents say Maughan admitted holding Perry's legs while Griffin killed him.
Prosecutors insist Maughan's testimony is essential to the case against Griffin and have granted Maughan a form of immunity that would let him testify against Griffin. They said nothing Maughan says will be used against him when he eventually goes to trial. No date has been set for Maughan's trial.
Prosecutors also have said they will provide under seal a summary of the evidence they have against Maughan when Griffin goes to trial.
But Maughan has objected and argued, among other things, that Utah's immunity law is unconstitutional because it does not offer witnesses protection under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution that says individuals are protected against self-incrimination.
First District Judge Ben Hadfield on Monday ruled in favor of the prosecutors, saying in an 11-page written opinion that Maughan's constitutional rights will be protected by the immunity provision he has been given.
The judge could hold Maughan in contempt of court if he refuses to take the stand.
Meanwhile, Griffin's trial that was set to start Oct. 25 has been rescheduled to begin Jan. 23, 2007.
Police say their investigation showed that two men entered the store, took Perry in back and tied him up and then stabbed him 15 times with a screwdriver and crushed his skull before fleeing with cash.
Two Utah State University students pulled up to get gas and were surprised that someone waited on them at a self-service station. They also noticed the man had what looked like blood on his shoes and clothes, and when he made change, a dollar bill he handed over had a red substance on it. They drove away and called police.
Officials say that dollar bill proved to be a crucial piece of evidence that helped police link Griffin to the crime. He was in federal prison in California on an unrelated charge when the investigation into Perry's slaying began to heat up. Maughan, a friend of Griffin's, was tracked down in Washington and court documents state he provided information that only someone involved in the crime would know.
Maughan is being held in the Cache County Jail, while Griffin is in the Box Elder County Jail.
E-mail: lindat@desnews.com