Family members, police still seek answers in 2011 Tooele homicide


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TOOELE — Looking at photos of their mother, Candice Slaugh and Cathlynn Gardiner get emotional thinking about how her life came to an end. On Oct. 5, 2011, Evelyn Derricott was murdered inside her Tooele home.

"You think after a while you get used to it, get over it, but somebody out there knows something," Slaugh said.

The morning of her death, Derricott had been running errands. When she returned home, police believe there was burglar inside. Two days later a friend found her body at the bottom of the stairs.

"The injuries to the body indicated that she was murdered," said Tooele Police Lt. Paul Wimmer.

Derricott's car and cellphone were stolen and abandoned in Kearns near 5370 W. 5820 South. Police believe answers still remain in that neighborhood.

"I think (the killers) either have acquaintances or they themselves are from the Kearns area," Wimmer said.

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Tooele police don't have a suspect, but they do have one giant piece of evidence — his DNA.

Slaugh and Gardiner are hoping for the day a match is found. "One thing is I worry that he's still out there, they haven't caught him," Slaugh said. "Is somebody going to be next? Is it somebody else's mom or grandmother?"

Derricott was a retired substitute teacher who loved working with special-ed students. Police say her murder is one of the most significant crimes committed in Tooele in more than a decade, and it's on the forefront of every officer's mind.

"This is a mother that was killed that has a family, loving daughters to live for," Wimmer said. "I think everyone in the city is bothered by that."

Candice and Cathlynn say one of the hardest parts about losing their mother is explaining to their children what happened.

"I know she is looking over us," Gardiner said. "She is there for everything that happens in our lives, but it's not the same as having her here."


Anyone with information about what happened is asked to call the Tooele Police at 435-882-5600.

And even though a year has past, the sisters say they want to know what was going on in the killer's life that would cause him to murder their mother.

"I felt sorry for him, and I still feel sorry for him, but I think they need to answer for what they did," Gardiner said. "They can't hide forever."

Tooele police feel that they are one tip away from cracking this case, but they need the public's help. Anyone with information about what happened is asked to call 435-882-5600.

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