An Ogden man charged with stabbing his girlfriend to death and dumping her body near Pineview Reservoir pleaded guilty on Tuesday to first-degree felony murder in large part because he is sorry for what happened, his attorney says.
Joseph Weatherspoon, 52, admitted guilt to the original charge filed against him by prosecutors and faces sentencing April 6.
Defense attorney John Caine said there were several reasons for the plea, including the strength of the prosecutor's case. But Caine also said Weatherspoon regrets the crime.
"Frankly, he came to the conclusion himself that he needed to take responsibility for what happened and didn't want to prolong the case anymore," Caine said.
"This is a guy who has no record at all, not any kind of history of violent behavior. He was beloved by many people because of the community work he did — he was a referee for youth sporting events, he worked with young people, he was very highly regarded," Caine said.
Witherspoon confessed to Ogden Police Det. Jim Gent that he fatally stabbed his girlfriend, Johanna McCann, during a fight on April 15, 2005. Police say he wrapped McCann's body in plastic sheeting and dumped it down an embankment near the reservoir. Police also say Weatherspoon rented a carpet cleaner to get rid of the blood in the Harrison Boulevard apartment the couple shared.
Defense attorneys later tried to get the confession suppressed, but 2nd District Judge Brent West refused.
Caine also investigated whether Weatherspoon might be mentally incompetent to stand trial, but that was unsuccessful.
"The state's case was extremely strong," Caine said. "The nature of the facts of the case, trying to cover up his actions, trying to clean the place up, getting rid of the body, all of those things, of course, made it very difficult (to mount a defense of mental incompetency or extreme emotional distress). It appeared what he was doing was quite calculated."
Prosecutor Gary Heward said there were never attempts to negotiate a plea that would result in anything less than an admission of murder.
"The case was a good case as far as the evidence; what we recovered indicated he did it — bloody clothing, the victim's blood in the defendant's car," Heward said.
As for Weatherspoon's attempts to get his confession to a police officer suppressed, Heward said the judge did the right thing. "In our opinion, and the judge's, there was nothing improper or illegal. The police followed proper procedures set out by the Utah and U.S. Supreme Courts for when you're taking information from suspects."
Heward said the state's case was certainly better with Weatherspoon's confession, but Heward believes Weatherspoon would have been convicted anyway if he had gone to trial.
As for a motive, Heward is unsure what prompted the killing. "We really don't have a lot of the details. At the preliminary hearing when Detective Gent testified about what Weatherspoon told him, he openly acknowledged what he did and said he was sorry for it but he wasn't very illuminating. He said she was being mean to him.
"There were only two people there," Heward added. "I don't know what led up to it, but I do know what happened once it started."
E-mail: lindat@desnews.com