Ogden » After killing a woman and her son last year, the first thing Jeremy Valdes did was ransack the victims' Roy trailer home for drugs, according to testimony Wednesday during a preliminary hearing.
Valdes, 33, and his girlfriend, Miranda Mandy Statler, 27, were homeless heroin addicts who had been staying with Pamela K. Jeffries, 53, and her son, 30-year-old Matthew Roddy, according to testimony.
During a fight over stolen prescription drugs the morning of Nov. 25, Valdes stabbed Roddy with a butcher knife, according to Statler, the state's chief witness.
Valdes then kicked Jeffries in the head hard enough to knock her unconscious, and later duct-taped a trash bag over the woman's head, Statler testified.
At the end of the hearing, 2nd District Judge Mark DeCaria ordered Valdes to stand trial on two counts of aggravated murder -- which carry the potential of the death penalty. Valdes is also charged with four other felonies for stealing Roddy's car, hiding the bodies in a closet and throwing the knife in the Ogden River.
Statler, who is charged with five felonies for helping Valdes in the aftermath of the slayings, said she will plead guilty to reduced charges but still expects to do prison time.
Statler said she and Valdes had been sleeping on the floor of Roddy's bedroom for a week when Jeffries called police to say she suspected her guests had stolen her legally obtained OxyContin and Valium.
The accusations sparked a fight between Valdes and Roddy in Roddy's bedroom, while Statler wrestled with Jeffries in the front room.
Statler -- who sobbed almost constantly while testifying -- said Valdes exited the bedroom carrying a bloody knife, then ran at Jeffries and kicked her in the head.
Valdes claimed Roddy "pulled a knife on him, so he had to kill him," Statler testified. A medical examiner found Roddy was stabbed 31 times.
After failing to find any drugs in the home, Valdes and Statler drove Roddy's car to a convenience store for cigarettes, Statler testified.
Returning, Valdes taped the bag over Jeffries head, they rolled Roddy up in a rug and then left to buy some heroin, Statler said. Later, they stacked the two bodies in a closet and cleaned up blood before leaving the trailer for good, she said.
Roy police responded to the trailer twice, on Nov. 26 and 28, after neighbors called to report the family's cats running loose. Officers found the bodies on Nov. 30 and arrested Valdes and Statler the next day.
Statler said she lied to police until they told her she could go to prison for life for something she didn't do. Valdes allegedly confessed to the slayings after police told him Statler had confessed.
