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PROVO — A man accused of strangling his 60-year-old neighbor with a power cord and pouring bleach on her body to destroy DNA evidence made his initial court appearance Wednesday.
Jerad Dale Gourdin, 34, appeared in court in Provo Wednesday to answer a charge of homicide committed for pecuniary gain, a first-degree felony.
Prosecutors announced the charge against him last week, four years after Belen Perez's adult son came home, 1675 W. 50 North, to find her dead and covered with chemicals.
Officers originally called Perez's death a random crime, believing she may have returned home while a burglar was inside. The break in the case came after Gourdin told a fellow inmate at the Utah State Prison about the killing in an attempt to join a gang, prosecutors said.
Gourdin stabbed another person with a screwdriver a day after Perez was found, court records show, and is currently serving a sentence in Utah State Prison for aggravated assault, a third-degree felony.
Fourth District Judge Thomas Low on Wednesday appointed a defense attorney for Gourdin after determining he could not afford one on his own. Gourdin remains in prison and is due back in court Sept. 12.
