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RICHFIELD — Saying that he had wanted his wife "dead for awhile," a Richfield man admitted Tuesday that he murdered his wife, then dismembered and burned her body less than six months after they were married.
Edward Callison, 59, pleaded guilty Tuesday to murder, a first-degree felony, in the death of his wife, Melanie Daniels Layton, 46, who disappeared in September. Callison was immediately sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.
"You are an evil person," 6th District Judge Marvin Bagley told him. "It's my recommendation that you never leave prison, unless it is in a hearse."
Callison told the judge Tuesday he grew tired of his wife's addictions and said, "She basically drove me nuts with the drugs, and it got to the point I wanted to kill her."
He added, "The plan was to give her the pills so she would fall asleep and then I would dismember her and cremate her and bury her."
His comments outraged many in the courtroom Tuesday.
"I was very, very nice if there is such a thing. And respectful," Callison said.
"What did you use to cut her up?" the judge asked.
"An ax," Callison replied.
"And that is not a mean and wicked thing?"
"Well, she was dead."
In a very unusual move, the judge had previously agreed to seal the case's public probable cause statement — the document that outlines the allegations against the defendant that justify the criminal charges. That document was unsealed Tuesday and revealed more of the gruesome details of the case.
You are an evil person. It's my recommendation that you never leave prison, unless it is in a hearse.
–Judge Marvin Bagley, 6th District
Prosecutors say Callison kept giving his wife large doses of her prescription medication with the hope that she would overdose and die. After her death, he used an ax and a knife to dismember her body and then burned her body parts and scattered her ashes so they wouldn't be found, the charging documents state.
"Edward had wanted Melanie dead for awhile and had been thinking about it because he just wanted some peace in his life and he was tired of living with a drug addict," investigators wrote in the charges. "He told us that she would 'grind' on him and 'grind' on him until he couldn't take it.
"He said he just wanted some peace and thought that if he just let her overdose it would be over and he wouldn't have to deal with it anymore," the court documents state.
Layton was last seen in Richfield on Sept. 11 and was reported missing Sept. 25. On the night of Sept. 11, Callison and Layton went camping at a campground less than a mile off state Route 24 in Sevier County.
That night, Callison told police that his wife took eight Percocet pills followed by 20 crushed tablets of Clonazepam which she washed down with orange juice and vodka. He said he believes that caused her death.
Once she was dead, Callison dismembered her body and put it in a shallow grave, according to the charging documents.
He said he just wanted some peace and thought that if he just let her overdose it would be over and he wouldn't have to deal with it anymore.
–Court Documents
Police say he made return trips to the campsite over a time to burn parts of the body. Investigators found fresh tire tracks and a campfire that was still smoking on Nov. 5. On Nov. 8, the Richfield police chief went to the campsite and personally observed Callison sitting next to a large fire, the charges state.
Two days later, officers returned to the campsite and collected what appeared to be burnt bone fragments, the charges state.
Callison had told family members and police that he and his wife had gotten into an argument while camping and the next day she left for California. Callison filed for divorce from her in November, just three days before he was arrested.
In exchange for his guilty plea to murder, charges of obstructing justice, a second-degree felony, and abuse of desecration of a dead body, a third-degree felony, were dismissed.
Ellen Row, Melanie Layton's mother, called Callison an "evil monster" and said she is relieved the case is now over.
"We needed some closure, and hopefully we can get the rest of the closure that we need," she said.
Row hopes her daughter will be remembered for her life and not the circumstances of her death.
"She was a good person. She would help anybody anytime. She never judged. She always took you at face value."
Because Callison is 59 years old, prosecutors believe he will likely die in prison.
