This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2006, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Posted: 12:54 PM- A Nevada woman has been arrested in the slaying of her ranch hand, whose body was found floating in the Jordan River in Utah almost three years ago.
Linda Walker Fields, 46, was taken into custody Monday in Elko, Nev., on an allegation of first-degree premeditated murder in the death of Jerry Palensky, a former Utahn. The charge carries the possibility of the death penalty, but no decision has been reached on what punishment to seek, according to Elko County District Attorney Gary Woodbury. He said a formal complaint will be filed in the next few days.
Fields operates a ranch in Elko County with her husband, who met Palensky years ago when the two worked together in the Utah mines.
Palensky, 61, had been working for the Fieldses and living on a trailer on their property up until a month before his death, according to the couple.
A bird watcher spotted Palensky's body on Jan. 14, 2004, floating in the Jordan River near 4100 South and 700 West.
Authorities say he died from multiple blows to the back of the head and had been in the water for more than 24 hours.
Three weeks later, Fields filled out a claim for the proceeds of a $300,000 insurance policy that Palensky had taken out in spring 2002. After the insurance company refused to pay - saying there was a competing claim from Palensky's siblings in the Czech Republic and pointing out that Fields was a suspect in the ranch hand's homicide - she filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Salt Lake City seeking the money. That case is pending.
pmanson@sltrib.com" Target="_BLANK">pmanson@sltrib.com