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Jerrod Baum appears for a hearing in Provo on Thursday, April 26, 2018. Baum is accused of killing 18-year-old Riley Powell and 17-year-old Brelynne “Breezy” Otteson and dumping their bodies into an abandoned mine shaft. Prosecutors served a warrant seeking updated photos of his numerous tattoos. | Rick Egan
Jarrod Baum charged with capital murder in deaths of young Eureka couple
PROVO — Jerrod Baum has pleaded not guilty to brutally murdering two people and dumping their bodies in an abandoned mine shaft.
But investigators want to know if Baum’s tattoos tell a different story.
The Utah County Attorney Bureau of Investigations recently served a search warrant to collect updated photographs of all of Baum’s tattoos. According to those who know Baum, he considers his tattoos to be his “records.”
Those records include tattoos of headstones with the initials of the people he’s killed, according to a new search warrant affidavit filed in 4th District Court.
Investigators now want to find out whether Baum has added tattoos to represent the killings of Riley Powell, 18, and Brelynne “Breezy” Otteson, 17.
“Just as Baum’s iron cross may have documented bravery in battle for his involvement in any number of acts, he may have documented his killing of Riley and Brelynne by way of tattoos as well. My training and experience and consultation with experts leads me to believe that there is a reasonable probability that he has done so,” an investigator wrote in the warrant.
“There is a strong likelihood Mr. Baum may have recorded the deaths of Riley Powell and Brelynne Otteson in the form of another tattoo. Updated photographs of any new tattoos would offer corroborating evidence of the murders.”
Baum, 43, is accused of slitting the throats of the young couple and throwing their bound bodies into the Tintic Standard Mine outside Eureka, Juab County, sometime between the night of Dec. 29 and the morning of Dec. 30, 2017.
Baum is charged with two counts of capital murder and prosecutors have announced they are pursuing the death penalty if he is convicted. His trial is scheduled to start in March.
Utah Department of Corrections
Investigators want to know if Jerrod Baum has added any tattoos on his body that would connect him with the killings of Riley Powell and Brelynne “Breezy” Otteson.
Defense attorney Mike Brown declined to comment about the search warrant, saying it’s a “pending criminal matter” and his client is presumed innocent. Utah County Attorney David Leavitt also declined comment Thursday.
On Aug. 18, investigators filed a lengthy 25-page affidavit in support of their warrant seeking an update on Baum’s tattoos. The affidavit goes into detail about more than two dozen tattoos Baum is known to have.
The majority of the tattoos have links to white supremacy symbols and rune writings. Investigators took interest in the tattoos after interviewing Baum’s girlfriend, Morgan Henderson, who was allegedly present when the killings occurred but lied to police about what she knew.
In 2018, Henderson pleaded guilty to 10 counts of obstructing …read more
Source:: Deseret News – Utah News
