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SANDY, Utah (AP) -- An ex-convict who faces murder and other charges in the slaying of a Utah mother was on a vodka-fueled crime spree until his capture by neighbors, according to police reports.
Six police reports obtained by the Deseret News from police in the Salt Lake city suburb of Sandy depict a wild series of events the day of the July 13 murder. The reports say Cody Alan Reece caused a traffic accident, knocked on neighbors' doors, assaulted one couple and stole mail and delivery packages.
A week later, Reece was blaming drugs and alcohol and asking detectives in a jailhouse interview to relay his apologies to the victims.
Reece, 30, of Millcreek, was charged Oct. 4 after detectives linked him to the murder of 33-year-old Magda A. Aleman, a mother of three. She was found beaten and shot in the head at her Sandy home on July 13.
Police said they made the connection with forensic evidence.
Reece was incoherent, sweating and crying when he was arrested, but twice managed to swing his handcuffs in front of him and fought with Salt Lake County jailers, according to the police reports.
He told police he had consumed five glasses of vodka and "appeared to be mentally handicapped and/or intoxicated," one report says.
Police say the chaos started when Reece steered his vehicle from a closed road under construction into traffic in Sandy and forced two other motorists to collide.
On foot, he took a delivery package from the porch of one house and a $255 money order from mailbox of another after knocking on the door and asking to use a phone. He then visited Aleman's house.
After the murder, police say, he broke into another residence and assaulted a man and a woman there. He was tackled by neighbors trying to flee, and police caught up with him, according to charging documents.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
