PROVO — A judge Monday refused to lower bail for a woman charged with killing her father-in-law, a former BYU professor.
And new weapons charges have been filed against the woman's husband, who is also charged with murdering Kay Mortensen, 70, in his Payson home in November 2009.
Roger Mortensen, 48, and his wife Pamela Mortensen, 34, are each charged with murder, a first-degree felony, and obstruction of justice, a third-degree felony, in the death of Roger Mortensen's father.
Roger Mortensen and another man were indicted last week by a federal grand jury on weapons charges.
Roger Mortensen and William Robert Lemieux are each charged with illegal possession of a machine gun — a Vector Arms Uzi Type 9mm machine gun — and possession of an unregistered machine gun. Roger Mortensen was also charged with being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition, including three pistols, three rifles, a shotgun and associated ammunition. Police located those weapons in a "hidden compartment" of his home, said prosecutor Tim Taylor.
Investigators believe Roger Mortensen took the Uzi from his father's gun safe sometime after the man was killed. Roger Mortensen is a convicted felon and is not allowed to have firearms.
Prosecutor Tim Taylor said investigators don't believe Lemieux is involved in Kay Mortensen's death.
Because the new weapons charges may tie up Roger Mortensen's case longer than his wife's and are unrelated to her, Pamela Mortensen's attorney asked a judge to sever the cases.
"Ms. Mortensen would like to have the trial as soon as possible," said defense attorney Chad Noakes. The lawyer also asked the judge to lower Pamela Mortensen's bail from $500,000 cash only, arguing that she cooperated with the grand jury investigation, is not a flight risk and is not facing the same additional charges as her husband.
"It would be our argument that if she were a flight risk, she certainly would have fled already," Noakes said. "I would simply ask that the court treat Pamela and her husband separately, and not refuse to consider a bail reduction because there are separate and more serious allegations against her husband."
But Taylor said Pamela Mortensen had not been cooperative, and he argued against a bail reduction because a grand jury found clear and convincing evidence she's connected to an "extremely brutal murder."
"I would take a little bit of a different opinion in regards to the cooperation," he said. "The medical examiner stated that Mr. (Kay) Mortensen's throat had been slashed at least five times." Fourth District Judge Darold McDade declined to lower her bail and set a hearing for Sept. 13 to discuss whether the two cases should be severed.
Taylor said when the trial is scheduled, it will include at least the 16 witnesses called before the grand jury plus several more. Many of those witnesses are investigators to whom the Mortensens gave inconsistent statements, he said.
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