Details Of Teens’ Killings Emerge in Murder Trial
Mar 6, 2019, 9:58 PM | Updated: 10:37 pm
PROVO, Utah — It was a crime hidden deep within an old Utah ghost town.
Police found two bodies dumped in a mine shaft near Eureka in Utah’s west desert in March of 2018.
The discovery followed months of searching for the two missing teens.
Today, in court, a cop remembered the experience.
“We found two bodies, if you see them like they are now you’ll never forget that.”
Nearly a year after the remains of Riley Powell and “Breezy” Otteson were recovered from a mineshaft it was a courtroom that would provide the most illumination yet on their killings.
Morgan Lewis testified from the stand about her knowledge of the killings.
A prosecutor asked her, “Do you have personal knowledge of how they died?
“Yes, I do,” Lewis answered.
“How?” the prosecutor asked.
Lewis said, “I was there.”
The ex-girlfriend of accused killer Jerrod Baum told all.
“Jared killed them,” she said.
There were no more secrets.
“He was hitting him (Riley) and he was calling him names. It looked like he was punching downwards and then Riley.. I heard Riley say ‘I’m dying’ and he was gurgling.” Lewis methodically described what happened to Powell.
“And that’s when I realized he wasn’t hitting Riley — he was stabbing Riley,” Lewis said.
Breezy was next.
Lewis continued, “And he said, ‘it’s okay, darlin’ and he went ‘shhhh’ to her and then I felt warmth on my leg.”
The prosecutor asked Lewis what she perceived at that point.
“It was her blood,” Lewis answered.
The woman said Baum had threatened her young son… and admitted she had initially lied to investigators.
“I thought I was going to die,” Lewis said.
She told prosecutors she didn’t mean to be a part of the killings.
She couldn’t say the same for the man she once dated.
He said I’ve never killed an innocent before and he was saying that he didn’t want to. But he looked… he had a big grin on his face,” Lewis said.