At the conclusion of a preliminary hearing, 3rd District Judge Joseph Fratto denied a defense motion to dismiss the case against Trisha Tower and ruled that the prosecution had presented enough evidence to proceed to a trial.
Tower, who is being held in jail in lieu of $100,000 bail, will be arraigned on Oct. 1 before 3rd District Judge Robin Reese. The 26-year-old is charged with one count of obstructing justice for allegedly helping inmate Curtis Michael Allgier in his getaway attempt in June.
The obstruction charge is a first-degree felony because the underlying crime is an alleged capital homicide by Allgier, a heavily tatooed white supremacist who was serving time for burglary.
Police say Allgier shot Stephen Anderson with the officer's own gun during a June 25 escape from University Hospital, where the inmate had been brought for treatment of a back problem. Allgier then allegedly carjacked a Ford Explorer, stopped by Tower's house to change out of a bright orange prison jumpsuit and led police on a chase to an Arby's restaurant, where he was disarmed by a customer.
Prosecutors say Tower put Allgier's jumpsuit in a bag, then handed it off to her brother to hide the morning of the escape. They allege she later lied when she initially denied knowing about the jumpsuit. Police got a tip that Russell Tower had the jumpsuit and retrieved it from him that night.
Russell Tower, 24, testified at today's hearing that his panicked sister called him immediately after Allgier left her home and said he had killed an officer. He said Trisha Tower was scared that child protection authorities would take away her daughter and wanted the jumpsuit out of her house.
He took the jumpsuit - which was in a plastic bag inside a black shoulder bag - to his parents' house and placed it inside his father's old RV. Tower said he told his sister to have the police pick up the jumpsuit.
Other testimony at the hearing came from a couple who saw Russell and Trisha at the home of the siblings' parents the night of the escape. Kenneth Richmond said he and his girlfriend were talking with Russell about the day's events when Russell said he had a Halloween costume for him - a jumpsuit.
"It was kind of surreal," Richmond said of the conversation. Trisha was getting phone calls about Allgier based on the media coverage of the escape and seemed "kind of excitable," he said.
His girlfriend, Maria Mariano, also testified that Russell offered Richmond an orange jumpsuit and that he said, "If anyone asks, it was borrowed."
Defense attorney Clayton Simms - who noted that Allgier was armed and said his client was frightened - argued that hiding the jumpsuit did not hinder or delay the investigation. He pointed out that an officer was watching Trish Tower's home after the escape and that police were right behind Allgier after he left there.
But prosecutor Vincent Meister said quick police action in capturing Allgier does not exonerate Tower and that the jumpsuit contained blood evidence.
In addition to capital murder, Allgier is charged with seven other felonies. Salt Lake County District Attorney Lohra Miller has said she intends to seek the death penalty.
