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FARMINGTON — Nearly a year and a half after he was arrested in the brutal death of his young stepson, Nathan Sloop will hear the details of the case prosecutors are building against him.
A preliminary hearing date was scheduled Wednesday for Oct. 31. That hearing is scheduled to last five days, and a judge will then determine whether he should stand trial for capital murder.
An evidentiary hearing had been scheduled for Wednesday, but Sloop's attorneys determined they did not need such a hearing yet.
"The legal issues that we had asked time for this week are deemed best presented, if ever, subsequent to a preliminary hearing," defense attorney Scott Williams said.
The decision came after attorneys for both Sloops and prosecutors held an extended meeting with 2nd District Judge Glen Dawson in the judge's chambers. A preliminary hearing for Sloop's wife, Stephanie Sloop, will be held Nov. 15.
The attorneys had previously squared off with prosecutors about whether communications between the couple and their therapists was privileged information. There has also been talk of documents allegedly taken from Nathan Sloop's jail cell.
Other than that, attorneys have alluded to "legal issues" but have not elaborated on what those issues are or if they are different from those they have discussed.
Both Nathan Sloop, 32, and Stephanie Sloop, 28, are facing capital murder charges in addition to charges of child abuse and obstructing justice, second-degree felonies, and abuse or desecration of a body, a third-degree felony, in connection with the brutal slaying of Stephanie Sloop's son, Ethan Stacy.
The 4-year-old boy's body was found near Powder Mountain in Weber County on or around Mother's Day 2010. Court documents list "severe abuse" as the cause of death.
According to court documents, the boy's face had been disfigured and his grave had been sprinkled with dog food.
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