The girlfriend of a man accused of killing two Utah teenagers and hiding their bodies in a mine shaft was arrested Friday on allegations she interfered with the investigation.
Morgan Henderson, 34, had been in jail in Sanpete County for unrelated complaints until Friday, when Utah County authorities booked her into their jail for allegedly obstructing justice as police investigated the disappearance of 17-year-old Breezy Otteson and her boyfriend, 18-year-old Riley Powell, Utah County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Spencer Cannon said.
Her boyfriend, 41-year-old Jerrod Baum, was arrested Wednesday on allegations he kidnapped and killed the teenagers and tried to cover up the slayings.
Police interviewed Henderson multiple times after the couple disappeared, but each time she said she did not know what happened to them. Over the course of several interviews, Henderson’s story changed, revealing she’d seen the teenagers at her Mammoth home the night they disappeared but that she didn’t know what happened after they left her home, according to Baum’s probable cause statement.
(Photo courtesy of Sanpete County Sheriff's Office) Morgan Henderson
On March 25, after she was pulled over and arrested in Sanpete County for allegedly having drugs and weapons in her vehicle, Henderson told police Baum killed the teenagers and she saw him do it, according to the probable cause statement.
Henderson’s is the second arrest in the case, which has drawn national attention as family members and friends searched for the teenagers across Utah’s West Desert. Cannon said it’s possible others will be arrested as the investigation progresses, but he said it wasn’t “likely.”
Henderson was booked into Utah County jail just after 6:15 p.m. Friday. She is being held in lieu of $100,000 cash-only bond, Cannon said.
Follow @PaightenHarkins