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ELKO, Nev. — After two days of testimony, a Utah woman was ordered to stand trial on a number of charges stemming from a crime spree that ended in an arrest in the Nevada desert.
Senior Judge Barbara Nethery bound over Angela Hill, also known as Angela Atwood, for trial Thursday on 13 different charges, including attempted murder, robbery with use of a deadly weapon and assault with a deadly weapon. The two-day hearing took place in the municipal court and will now be transferred to the district court for further scheduling.
Hill, 25, and Logan McFarland, 24, were arrested Jan. 3 near the small town of Oasis, Nev., between Wendover and Wells. The two are accused of going on a crime spree that started in Utah and, according to investigators, included a carjacking in which the driver was shot in the head, a high-speed chase and a possible double homicide in Mt. Pleasant, Sanpete County.
Hill's mother, Denise Atwood, of Fairview, Sanpete County, has said her daughter is innocent, claims McFarland beat her daughter up and when Hill once tried to escape to a nearby farmhouse, he held a gun to her and told her she'd die if she tried to leave.
However, court documents state that Hill fired the shot that struck a woman in the back of the head after the couple carjacked and kidnapped the victim in West Wendover on Dec. 31.
According to the booking statement from the jail, Hill and McFarland carjacked a woman in the parking lot of the Red Garter Casino. Hill allegedly pushed the victim into the passenger seat at gunpoint and drove her vehicle while McFarland followed in a second car.
At one point, police say the woman fought back, biting Hill. Both women ended up outside of the vehicle during a struggle for Hill's gun. After the victim regained control of her vehicle and drove off, she felt McFarland's vehicle strike her from behind, jail documents state. She then "heard a gunshot and felt an object strike her in the head."
The woman remained conscious and was able to drive herself to the police station. A bullet fragment was recovered from the left side of the woman's head, the charges state.
No charges have yet been filed in connection with the deaths of Mt. Pleasant couple Woody and Ann Fullwood — who were found dead in their home — but several court documents filed in both Utah and Nevada strongly suggest McFarland and Hill are suspects in the double killing.
Police said individuals had come forward "and had provided information that they suspected the two individuals were involved in the deaths of the Fullwoods in Mt. Pleasant," according to an Elko County Jail statement.
A vehicle stolen out of Santaquin was later found in Wells, Nev., where a Volkswagen Jetta left warming up in front of a Super 8 Motel was stolen. During a high-speed chase on I-80 with police, personal items belonging to the Wendover carjacking victim, including her purse, were thrown out of the Jetta by McFarland and Hill, police said.
The Jetta was later recovered in a very remote, mountainous region in the area where McFarland and Hill were arrested.
Hill is facing charges in Utah of two counts of burglary, a second-degree felony, and one third-degree felony burglary count.
McFarland has already been ordered to stand trial on the Nevada charges and remains in custody there.
