- Sally Ann Krivanek's request for parole was denied by the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole.
- Krivanek, convicted of Kellie Nelson's 2002 murder, will have another hearing February 2028.
- The board cited the crime's cruelty and victim's family's opposition as reasons for denial.
SALT LAKE CITY — A woman convicted of killing the live-in girlfriend of a man she had dated, dumping her body off I-80 and setting it on fire, will remain in prison at least two more years.
The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole has denied Sally Ann Krivanek's request for parole, instead telling her to come back for another hearing in February of 2028.
Kellie Nelson, 23, was kidnapped on Dec. 1, 2002, outside her townhouse condominium in Barrington Park near 4200 South and 1300 West as she left for work, murdered, and her body dumped and set on fire just off of I-80 near 9000 West. Prosecutors say Krivanek was "obsessed" with Nelson's live-in boyfriend, whom she used to date. They say Krivanek plotted Nelson's death and rented a U-Haul trailer used to transport Nelson's body.
Krivanek was arrested and charged with murder, a first-degree felony, and abuse or desecration of a dead body, a third-degree felony. She pleaded guilty to murder in exchange for the other charge being dropped. She was sentenced in 2003 to a term of five years to life in the Utah State Prison.
In December, Krivanek, now 51, went before the parole board for the first time. But just as she did during her sentencing, Krivanek contended she was only an accomplice to the tragic events and that she did not actually kill Nelson. The Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office reiterated after the parole hearing that Nelson's boyfriend was "absolutely not" involved in her murder and detectives do not believe he had any involvement. The sheriff's office says investigators confirmed the boyfriend's movements for that entire day.
Before her next parole hearing, Krivanek was ordered by the Utah Department of Corrections to have a mental health examination completed and enroll in a substance abuse treatment program at the prison.
While the board recognized that Krivanek had completed several programs while incarcerated, they list as the aggravating circumstances for their decision to deny parole at this time the "extreme cruelty or depravity" of her crime and her institutional behavior, though the board acknowledged that Krivanek has not violated any rules in the past 10 years.
The board also noted that Nelson's family does not support a decision to release Krivanek.
