This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Provo • Two years after a Payson couple lured their alleged drug dealer to a vacant parking lot and robbed and killed him to get cash for Christmas, the two admitted to the crime on Friday.
"I am the one who pulled the trigger," said 28-year-old Stephan A. Sutton, moments after pleading guilty to first-degree felony murder in 4th District Court.
Sutton also pleaded along with charges of first-degree felony aggravated robbery, second-degree felony obstruction of justice and third-degree felony escape from custody.
Shackled and dressed in a striped jail jumpsuit, Sutton was briefly emotional as he apologized to the family of 28-year-old Jeff Vern Jensen, whom he killed on Nov. 23, 2012.
"I know there is nothing in the world that could take this back," he said, as friends and family of Jensen sobbed in the courtroom gallery. "I wish I could. Jeff was a good guy, and I'm sorry that this has happened."
As part of Sutton's plea agreement, an aggravated murder charge was amended to murder and two charges of failure to stop at the command of police were dismissed.
After Sutton entered his guilty pleas, his girlfriend, 22-year-old Chaelisa J. Nielson, stood before Judge Lynn Davis and admitted her role in Jensen's death, which was helping to plan the crime.
She pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree felony murder. Charges of aggravated robbery, obstructing justice and failure to stop at command of police were dismissed as part of her plea deal.
"I'm sorry that my selfishness and greed led to Jeff's death," Nielsen told the court. "We planned on robbing him, but we didn't plan for it to go this far."
Sutton and Neilsen each face up to life in prison when they are sentenced on Jan. 13.
The couple had planned for about a week to rob Jensen of drugs and money so they could have cash for the holidays and buy a ring for Nielsen, according to charging documents.
They arranged to buy oxycodone pills that would have cost them about $1,000 and met Jensen at a vacant, unlit parking lot of the old Flying J in Payson on Nov. 23, 2012.
Sutton drove up to the meeting with a shotgun on his lap, pointed the gun at Jensen and demanded the victim's belongings, according to court documents. When Jensen objected, police say Sutton shot him in the chest, then reloaded the gun and gave it to Nielsen.
Charging documents state that Nielsen encouraged Sutton to shoot Jensen and that the two had always planned to kill Jensen so as to leave no witnesses to the crime.
After the shooting, Sutton searched Jensen's body and took the victim's money, drugs and cellphone, court documents state.
As the couple fled the parking lot, police said, they argued about where they should take the truck to wash off Jensen's blood.
At that point, a Payson officer spotted the truck tailgating another vehicle and decided to pull it over.
Sutton tried to avoid the officer and threw the shotgun out the window.
When Sutton stopped and fled on foot, Nielsen did the same, hiding in some bushes and calling someone to pick her up and take her to another location. Police found her hiding in a garage.
When Payson officers finally cornered Sutton, he asked them to shoot him, charging documents show. Officers instead used a Taser to subdue him.
Sutton was covered in blood, and in his pants was a wad of bloody money and two knives.
Officers said when they tried to have Sutton checked by paramedics, he fled again and had to be tackled. When they put him into the back seat of a patrol car, he managed to escape once again and fled several blocks with his hands cuffed behind him. He was eventually found a hiding under a vehicle.
Twitter: @jm_miller