PROVO, Utah, April 15, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — The jury in the trial of Jerrod Baum, the Juab County man accused of murdering a teen-aged couple in 2017, returned a verdict of guilty on all counts Friday.
Baum pleaded not guilty in 2019 in the deaths of Riley Powell, 18, and Brelynne “Breezy” Otteson, 17, whose bodies were found in an abandoned mine shaft in 2018.
He waived his right to a speedy trial after pleading not guilty, and his trial was moved to 2020. It was then delayed because of the COVID pandemic.
After hearing closing arguments Wednesday, the jury deliberated and ultimately found Baum guilty of:
- Two counts of aggravated murder, a first-degree felony
- Two counts of aggravated kidnapping, a first-degree felony
- Obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony
- Two counts of abuse or desecration of a dead human body, a third-degree felony
Baum’s former girlfriend, Morgan Lewis Henderson, initially denied any knowledge of what had happened to Powell and Otteson, but later testified that she witnessed the kidnapping and murder of the young couple.
At the time, Henderson pleaded guilty to 10 of 30 charges of obstructing justice and was sentenced to serve at least three years in jail and then be on probation for an additional five years.
Henderson testified that Baum murdered the two because she had invited Riley Powell to the residence she and Baum shared at the time, and Baum had forbidden her from having visitors. She also said that Powell brought along Breezy Otteson, his girlfriend.
Henderson testified that on Dec. 30, 2017, Baum had bound Powell and Otteson and driven them to the Tintic Standard No. 2 mine. Once there, Henderson said, Baum made her watch as he stabbed first Powell, then Otteson, then pushed their bodies into the mine.
As the grisly details of the couples’ kidnapping and murders were revealed, Baum’s criminal past was brought to light.
Baum has felony convictions, including attempted murder, going back to when he was 15 years old, and it isn’t known if the documented incidents comprise all of his criminal activities.
Gephardt Daily will follow up on this story as details regarding Baum’s sentencing are released.
