Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
BOUNTIFUL -- Prosecutors in Salt Lake and Davis counties filed two felony charges Thursday against the lone person of interest in the death of a Bountiful woman.
Chad R. Mecham, 27, was charged with abuse or desecration of a human body, a third-degree felony. Davis County prosecutors say that sometime between Sept. 28 and Oct. 4, Mecham "did move, remove or conceal a dead human body," presumably the body of Tina Wilson.
Wilson, 39, was found dead inside her Bountiful apartment near 500 South and 200 East on Monday. The charges do not specify whose body he allegedly desecrated.
Also Thursday, Mecham was charged with theft by deception, a third-degree felony, as part of a separate case.
Mecham, who was living with his sister, was allowed to use his sister's debit card on Sept. 19 to buy breakfast. When she checked her bank statement later, she found several transactions she did not authorize, including a $200 bank withdrawal, according to court records. Mecham later admitted to his sister that he made the withdrawal to pay for heroin, the charges state.
Mecham is the only person of interest in Wilson's death. An autopsy indicated she was both strangled and smothered.
Mecham and Wilson used to be co-workers and were described by police as being on-again, off-again friends. He typically asked her for money and a place to stay but would then disappear for a while, according to police.
Mecham was found and arrested Tuesday -- a day after Wilson's body was discovered -- sleeping in Wilson's car in the parking lot of the Pepper Tree Apartment in West Valley City. He was arrested on a probation violation for a previous case.
Mecham has a prior criminal history, including pleading guilty to three amended charges of attempted aggravated robbery in 2007, court records indicate. He also pleaded guilty to attempted forgery in 2006. Mecham also had a drug addiction problem during that time, according to court records.
During the early morning hours of Oct. 4, before Wilson's body was found, police investigated an attempted burglary in which the getaway car matched the description of Wilson's vehicle.
Mecham remained in the Davis County Jail Thursday on a 72-hour hold pending possible charges. That hold was set to expire Thursday. The new charges will allow police to keep him behind bars while the murder investigation continues.
------
E-mail: preavy@desnews.com
