LOGAN, Utah, June 5, 2019 (Gephardt Daily) — A report from the Utah State Crime Lab is leading to two more first-degree felony charges against Alex Whipple, accused in the death of his 5-year-old niece in Logan.
New charges being filed against Whipple, 21, are rape of a child and sodomy.
Whipple is already charged with the aggravated murder of Elizabeth “Lizzy” Shelley, the daughter of his sister.
A statement from the Cache County Attorney’s Office says the following:
The Cache County Attorney’s office has received additional evidence from the Utah State Crime Lab since filing the original charges.
This information led to the filing of two additional charges against Alex Whipple in the disappearance and murder of 5-year-old Elizabeth Shelley. These charges are rape of a child, a first-degree felony, and sodomy upon a child, also a first-degree felony.
We are still awaiting a determination of cause of death from the Utah Office of the Medical Examiner.
Whipple was charged on May 29 with:
- Aggravated murder, a first-degree felony
- Child kidnapping, a first-degree felony
- Two counts of obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony
On May 25, he was charged with crimes related to resisting arrest and possession of drugs and a dangerous weapon.
It was earlier on May 25 when Logan City Police say Lizzy’s disappearance was reported by her family, who had let Whipple sleep over. Sometime between 2 a.m., when Lizzy was last seen, and 9:30 a.m., when her absence was discovered, prosecutors say Lizzy left the house with her uncle.
The front door was left wide open and a knife was discovered missing from the family’s kitchen knife block. A knife of the same brand and description was discovered later, as was DNA blood evidence connecting Whipple and Lizzy.
After murder charges were filed on the morning of May 29, Whipple’s attorney was able to talk him into revealing the area where the body could be found in exchange for taking the death penalty off the table. Lizzy’s body was found a block away from her west Logan home, about five doors away, in an overgrown field, covered with debris.
Lizzy’s funeral on Tuesday was attended by hundreds of people who wanted to support her family and pay tribute to the little girl they never met. Many brought “picked flowers,” one of Lizzy’s favorite things, as were rainbows.
An unofficial honor guard of hundreds of bikers accompanied her casket to the cemetery where her family held a private memorial.
