SANDY — A man accused of killing a Sandy woman allegedly went on something of a crime spree the evening of the homicide.
Police reports indicate he may have been intoxicated, was involved in a hit-and-run accident, had to have extra restraints placed on him when he was booked into jail and cried constantly when he was arrested.
Reports obtained by the Deseret News reveal new details about Cody Reece, who is charged with aggravated murder in the death of 33-year-old Magda A. Aleman, and outline a sequence of events Reece allegedly was involved in before and after Aleman's death.
Six reports were filed by Sandy police for incidents that occurred July 13 that involved Reece.
Sometime after 6 p.m., police believe Reece stole a UPS package left on the front porch of a house near 11300 South and 900 East. Inside the package were two digital converters from Comcast.
Aleman lived close to where the package was stolen.
According to the timeline of events in police reports, Reece likely went to Aleman's house after stealing mail from the house on 11300 South and then drove away from Aleman's house at a high rate of speed after allegedly killing her.
At 6:45 p.m., Sandy police were called to a hit-and-run accident near 10095 South and 700 East. A vehicle, later identified as Reece's, was traveling at a high rate of speed along 700 East in an area that was closed for construction. The vehicle jumped back into the regular flow of traffic, forcing other drivers to take quick action and causing two vehicles to collide. Reece's vehicle was later found abandoned.
A witness who saw Reece walk away from his vehicle said it appeared he carried a bottle of alcohol with him, according to one police report. Responding officers found Reece's driver's license on the car floor. Drug paraphernalia was also found in the vehicle.
At 7 p.m., Reece knocked on the door of a house near 200 East and 9400 South, a report states. The woman who answered "noticed the odor of alcohol" on Reece's breath. Reece told the woman that his car had broken down and he needed to use her phone. The woman told Reece that her husband was a mechanic and would go look at his car. When she returned to the door with her husband, however, Reece was gone.
When the woman looked in her mailbox, a money order for $255 was also missing, according to a report.
At 7:37 p.m., police were dispatched to Aleman's house, 11436 Tiger Tail Circle (1100 East), where her husband had discovered the deceased woman's body. A neighbor last saw Aleman alive about 5:34 p.m. Aleman's children, ages 4, 8 and 9, had gone over to the neighbor's house shortly afterward to play with her children.
Family members discovered the lights inside the home were off but the TV was on and turned up exceptionally loud, a report states. Aleman suffered a gunshot wound to the head, as well as blunt-force trauma to her face and head, according to prosecutors.
Just before 8 p.m., police say Reece broke into a residence at 377 E. Montgomery Drive, not far from where he allegedly stole the money order. He hit the male occupant in the face and stomach and pushed a female occupant several times before fleeing the house, according to charging documents.
Neighbors chased after Reece when he fled the house, however, eventually catching him and holding him until police arrived.
When officers spoke to Reece, they said he "appeared to be mentally handicapped and/or intoxicated," a police report states. Reece told the officer he had consumed five glasses of vodka earlier in the day.
"The suspect cried continuously, sweat profusely and had a hard time speaking," the report states.
After he was placed into custody and while being transported to jail, Reece was able to twice get his restrained hands around his legs so they were in front of him.
"You learn a thing or two after being in prison," Reece, who was placed in full restraints, later told police.
Reece gave the officer several false names. Once he was at the Salt Lake County Jail, Sandy detectives were able to link him to a drug paraphernalia and hit-and-run case from earlier in the day, but not the homicide.
While being booked into jail, "Reece got combative and was pushed against the wall and once again restrained," according to jail records.
Once the officer told Reece he knew his real name, "he smiled and his demeanor instantly changed. He no longer spoke in an incoherent manner and the sound of his voice changed," the record states.
Sandy detectives returned to the jail a week later to interview Reece. He told them that on July 13, he took a quarter of a Xanax pill and drank Jager.
He remembered leaving a friend's house in West Jordan and getting into an accident "but said that he felt like someone hit him intentionally and he got scared," according to police records.
When asked about stealing the UPS package, Reece said he didn't remember that, but he wasn't in his "right mind."
"He told me to tell the victims that he is sorry," one officer wrote.
It wasn't until later however, that investigators linked Reece to the killing based on blood stains found on his shirt and DNA evidence. He was able to bail out of jail after his July 13 arrest.
On Aug. 10, Reece was again booked into the Salt Lake County Jail after getting into a foot chase with Salt Lake police. Officers ended up deploying a Taser to take him into custody. In his vehicle, detectives found a loaded handgun under the seat, a stolen assault rifle, drugs, credit cards and burglary tools.
Reece, however, was able to post bond the very next day and was released from jail Aug. 11.
Seven days later, Reece was tracked down by the Joint Criminal Apprehension Team and arrested on outstanding warrants. When JCAT officers found him, Reece had two more guns in his possession. He was re-booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on Aug. 18. He was moved to the Davis County Jail on Aug. 31 where he has remained since.
Reece has an extensive criminal history, according to Utah court records. Many of his charges date back to 1999, most of them drug-related. He was sentenced to the Utah State Prison in 2007 after being convicted on drug and weapons related charges.
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