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Ogden • In 1985, Douglas Lovell allegedly told his then-wife that he kidnapped Joyce Yost and drove her up to Causey Reservoir, where he strangled her, stomped on her neck and killed her.
Now, Lovell's attorneys are trying to keep his now-ex-wife, Rhonda Buttars, from testifying about the admissions at an upcoming trial.
Lovell's defense team argued in recently filed court papers that the defendant's admissions to Buttars should be barred from trial because the statements are protected under a "confidential marital communications privilege."
Defense attorney Sean Young wrote in court papers that Buttars should not be allowed to testify about how Yost accused her husband of rape, how Lovell said Yost "didn't deserve to live" and how Lovell planned to hire a hit man to kill Yost, then plotted to kill her himself.
But in court on Wednesday, Deputy Weber County Attorney Jeffrey Thomson argued that the statements should be allowed because Lovell made the alleged confessions either after their 1990 divorce, in the presence of a third party, or while Buttars was aiding him in the commission of the murder.
Thomson agreed that a mere confession is a protected statement, but said that if a defendant tells his spouse that he murdered someone and needs her help hiding the body, it is no longer considered confidential.
Thomson also argued that Lovell not only confessed these details to Buttars, but also told his family, other jail inmates and pronounced them publicly during his own testimony at a 1993 sentencing hearing.
"There's no longer any privilege," Thomson argued. "It's destroyed ... it's not in confidence anymore."
Second District Judge Michael DiReda did not immediately rule on the issue, telling Lovell and the attorneys that he would take the matter under advisement and file a written ruling.
Lovell, who is now 57, pleaded guilty in 1993 to aggravated murder. During his sentencing hearing, he voluntarily took the stand and detailed how he sexually assaulted Yost and later murdered the 39-year-old woman to keep her from testifying at his rape trial, according to court documents.
His original plea deal with prosecutors spared him the death penalty, so long as he led authorities to where Yost was buried. However, despite trips to the Weber County mountains to search for her body, Lovell was unable to locate the woman's remains prior to his sentencing date.
Lovell was ultimately sentenced to death, but the Utah Supreme Court in 2010 ruled he could withdraw the guilty plea because he should have been better informed of his rights during court proceedings.
Lovell's new death penalty trial is scheduled to begin on March 9 — nearly 30 years after Yost's murder.
Twitter: @jm_miller