A Utah man has been found guilty of brutally murdering a teenage couple and dumping their bodies in a mine shaft.
Jerrod William Baum, 46, was convicted of a number of crimes related to the 2017 murders of Riley Powell, 18, and Brelynne “Breezy” Otteson, 17, by a Utah County jury, according to a press conference shared on Facebook by Utah County Attorney David Leavitt. Baum was accused of kidnapping the teenagers and stabbing them to death in Eureka, Utah, Oxygen reported Monday. (RELATED: Video Shows Man Repeatedly Running Over Woman With SUV After Minor Incident)
Baum was motivated to commit the brutal murders because he didn’t like that his girlfriend, Morgan Lewis, had male friends, and discovered that Powell and Otteson had been to her home, according to a previous report by Fox 13. Powell and Otteson were last seen together in Spanish Fork in December 2017 and were reported missing in January 2018, Oxygen continued.
Baum bound the teenagers with duct tape before he murdered them, putting them in the back of Powell’s Jeep and driving them to the mine shaft, according to Oxygen. Lewis rode with Baum in the passenger seat and was present when he forced Otteson to watch him beat and stab Powell to death, the report noted.
Baum then slit Otteson’s throat and threw her into the mine shaft, according to CBS. It took several months for Powell and Otteson’s bodies to be found in the mine shaft, and they were only discovered because Lewis led police to the crime scene, the report continued.
Prosecutors stated that Baum showed little remorse after the murders, KXTV reported. He faces 25 years to life in prison for each count, and is scheduled for a sentencing hearing June 1, according to Oxygen.