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 Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information.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.
PROVO — After weeks of testimony, Utah County prosecutors have rested their case in a high-profile double murder trial.
The jury trial of Jerrod William Baum, 45, entered its fifth week, as Utah County prosecutors continued to make their case Tuesday. Just after 1 p.m. and outside the presence of the jury, deputy Utah County attorney Ryan McBride told the court the state intends to rest its case.
Baum is accused of stabbing and killing Riley Powell, 18, and Brelynne "Breezy" Otteson, 17, in December 2017 before throwing their bodies in a mine shaft outside of Eureka. Their bodies were not found until March 28, 2018.
Prior to resting their case, prosecutors played audio recordings on Tuesday of calls that Baum made to others while in jail. Utah County sheriff's detective Jake Hall was among those called to the witness stand Tuesday. He gave context surrounding the jail calls that were played for the jury.
In one recording, a woman is reading Baum a June 2018 post on Facebook from a page advocating for Powell and Otteson's killer to be brought to justice. The post explains that someone keeps taking down and ripping up posters of Powell and Otteson being hung in the Eureka Post Office. Baum can be heard laughing in response.
Another call played in court featured Baum saying someone he didn't like needed a "mine shaft." Powell and Otteson's bodies were found at the bottom of a mineshaft outside of Eureka.
Baum's defense attorneys began calling witnesses after the jury was brought back into the courtroom around 1:40 p.m. The first witness called was a Tooele County man who aided in the search around Juab County for Powell and Otteson after they disappeared.
Baum was charged in April 2018 with two counts of aggravated murder, a first-degree felony; two counts of aggravated kidnapping, a first-degree felony; two counts of desecration of a dead body, a third-degree felony; obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony; and possession of a dangerous weapon as a restricted person, a third-degree felony.
If convicted, Baum faces the potential of spending the rest of his life behind bars. Baum had originally faced a potential death sentence, though that possibility was later withdrawn by Utah County Attorney David Leavitt.
