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PAYSON -- Utah County investigators appear to have shifted their strategy for solving the murder of Payson resident Kay Mortensen.
Investigators were extraordinarily quiet about the facts of this case for more than two months. In the past five weeks, however, they've released the 911 call, named two persons of interest and now have made public a long list of weapons they believe were stolen from the victim.
Thursday, they confirmed those guns could possibly be part of the motive for the murder of the former BYU professor.
It has been 108 days now since Kay Mortensen was found murdered inside his Payson Canyon home.
Police have now released a list of 32 guns, which they are hoping to track down to develop new leads into Mortensen's murder.
Lt. Mike Brower of the Utah County Sheriff's Office said, "If these weapons do surface in the public, we'd like to know who they were purchased from so we can track that information that may be relevant to the homicide itself."
According to police, the extensive collection of guns were all legally possessed by Mortensen. But the guns were likely illegally sold to others, unbeknownst to the buyers.
Brower says to those who may be in possession of any of the firearms, "If they do have these weapons and if they purchased or were traded to them, for them not to be afraid to come forward and work with us, because those weapons were listed as stolen property."
Beyond the weapons, detectives say they do have other forensic evidence they are working with but won't give specifics.
Mortensen's son Roger and daughter-in-law Pamela, who were both present in the home when the 911 call was made, remain the only persons of interest in the case. Detectives are hoping for new help from the public.
"Our focus is still following up with every lead that comes in, and we've done so," Brower said. "We still have persons of interest we're focused on as well. Multiple leads have been exhausted in this case, that's why to some extent we're asking for the public's help, because those leads have all been exhausted."
Detectives say they are continuing to build a case and plan to take it to prosecutors as soon as they have enough evidence to support criminal charges.
E-mail: spenrod@ksl.com
