SANDY, Utah, May 27, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — A Sandy resident has been booked into jail after one of her roommates in a building used for homeless housing was found deceased.
Laura Darlene Northrup, 60, was arrested at 5:35 p.m. Sunday, according to her affidavit. She was booked for investigation of murder, a first-degree felony, and tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony.
“The agency assist was at 8955 S. 255 W. at the Sandy MVP (Medically Vulnerable People) Shelter in room #222. The shelter was formerly a hotel and now rooms are provided for residentially displaced individuals,” says an affidavit filed by an officer of the Sandy City Police Department.
Officers and paramedics were dispatched to the former Econo Lodge, on Sunday afternoon, and found the victim dead at the scene at 4:47 p.m.
The victim “had an injury consistent with blunt force trauma to the back of her head… ” Northrup’s affidavit says.
Shelter administrators told police the 62-year-old victim had two roommates, Northrup and a 58-year-old woman.
Video recordings from the area showed the victim had entered the room for the last time at 1:02 a.m. Sunday.
Northrup was not seen entering the room, but was recorded leaving it at 1:57 a.m. Sunday. The recording showed “her arms full of what appears to be clothing and other personal items,” her arrest documents say.
The third roommate was recorded entering the unit at about 12 a.m. Sunday, and told investigators she went to sleep and did not see the victim’s body until she woke up, and she then called 911.
Northrup’s probable cause statement says blood was found on the floor between her bed and the victim’s. It was also found on the door frame, and on a fanny pack bag Northrup was holding and clothing she was wearing when she returned to the room and found police present.
Northrup was ordered held without bail.
