Man Accused Of Murdering Mother, Stuffing Her In Freezer Could Be Discharged Soon
Jun 14, 2019, 6:15 AM | Updated: 6:16 am
DAVIS COUNTY, Utah — Relatives said they were reassured Jeremy Hauck would never be a free man again.
That was in 2013, after Hauck had been found not guilty by reason of insanity in the murder of his mother, Laura — whose body was discovered in 2006 stuffed inside a freezer in her Bountiful townhome.
He was instead committed to the Utah State Hospital.
Laura Hauck
Last month, however, family members learned Hauck could soon be discharged, under a plan that would send him to Washington to live with his father and step-mother.
“I wouldn’t feel safe with Jeremy out on the streets again, and I don’t know if anyone should,” said Faye Garlock, Laura’s sister and Jeremy’s aunt. “I just don’t have any part of me that feels he’s safe to be out.”
Court documents from May 20 noted a request to discharge Hauck and a ‘transitional plan to facilitate his move to Washington.’
“The State Hospital needs to provide a more detailed written plan to explain what will be in place in Washington to monitor Mr. Hauck and make sure he has support in place that needs to be there, particularly for the medication issues,” one document read.
A hearing was also scheduled in Farmington on June 24 to review Hauck’s commitment.
Hauck’s attorney, Todd Utzinger, acknowledged Thursday evening that a plan was in the works to send the man to live with his father and stepmother in Washington, but he expected the process to take longer than a couple weeks for Hauck to be discharged.
“He is prepared to stand on his own,” Utzinger said.
Utzinger said Hauck recently has seen significant progress in his treatment for delusional schizophrenia.
“It’s been a long haul,” Utzinger said. “The illnesses that he had—had they been detected earlier, would have been treated.”
Utzinger said he recognized that Hauck’s release might draw concern from family as well as the community.
The plan also drew criticism from Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings.
“We find the proposed course of action absurd,” Rawlings said. “We’re going to try to see if there is a legitimate legal basis for the judge to order the State Hospital to do something other than release him into the community at wild.”
Police said Hauck shot his mother and slit her throat before leaving her body in the freezer in 2006.
Garlock said she periodically visits the townhome where it happened to be close to her sister and to “miss her.”
She said she didn’t want her nephew to hurt anyone else.
“I don’t see how any of this is common sense that he should be free to harm other people again,” Garlock said.
