CLEARFIELD, Utah, Nov. 23, 2022 (Gephardt Daily) — A man and woman were found dead by a family member in their Clearfield residence Wednesday afternoon in what police are calling a double homicide.
Clearfield City Police Chief Kelly Bennett told reporters that a family member who visited the residence saw the bodies, then left the house and called police dispatch at about 3:10 p.m.
Officers arriving on the scene, near 750 North and 1050 West, made contact with an adult male who remained in the residence, and took him into custody without incident, Bennett said, calling the man a suspect.
The adults found deceased were “older,” the chief said, and showed signs of physical trauma.
“We do believe that there’s a relationship between the suspect and the two deceased individuals inside the residence,” Bennett said.
“Our investigators are with that suspect at this time, and we will continue to work here on the scene for the remainder of the evening with the crime lab and the medical examiner’s office.”
Bennett said there is no remaining threat, and no shelter-in-place directive was issued because the suspect was in custody so quickly.
The crime coming the day before a holiday makes especially hard, Bennett said.
“This affects our community. It affects our department and obviously affects this family and the community here. It’s a quiet neighborhood. We would not suspect this in any part of our city and it’s tragic.
“It’s the holidays and we’re going to be working throughout the holidays now and the family is going to be mourning the loss of some loved ones. It’s tragic.”
Bennett said the family member who visited the house and found the bodies immediately left the scene and contacted police. That person was met by a victim’s advocate who was still with them hours later, at the time of the news conference.
“Obviously, it’s a traumatic thing,” the chief said, adding he also “had our medical personnel here just attend to them just to make sure they were OK.”
Gephardt Daily will have more information as the case develops.
