House-fire murder case: Man takes plea deal

House-fire murder case: Man takes plea deal

(Geoff Liesik/Deseret News)


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PRICE — A Carbon County man has accepted a plea bargain that resolves nine cases against him, including a murder case filed after firefighters found his cousin's body in the basement of the man's fire-damaged home.

James William Pendleton Jr. was originally charged in 7th District Court with murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault and conspiracy in the death of Brian William Swink. On Friday, Pendleton entered no-contest pleas to attempted manslaughter and attempted kidnapping, both third-degree felonies, for his role in Swink's death.

Pendleton, 40, also accepted deals in a handful of other cases, pleading guilty to charges of assault by a prisoner, a third-degree felony; possession of a controlled substance, a third-degree felony; assault, class A misdemeanor; attempted witness tampering, a class A misdemeanor; and attempted possession of items prohibited in a correctional facility, a class A misdemeanor.

In exchange for Pendleton's pleas, Carbon County Attorney Gene Strate asked a judge to dismiss three cases that involved charges of retaliation against a witness, failure to stop at the command of police and assault.

Strate told the Deseret News a number of challenges developed in recent months in his prosecution of the murder case, which was set to go to trial in early June. Several of the state's witnesses have been convicted of unrelated crimes in the months after Swink's death and are serving prison or jail sentences, Strate said.

There are also conflicting accounts of what happened in the hours leading up to the fire that killed Swink, the prosecutor said.

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Investigators believe Pendleton beat Swink with a baseball bat on July 29, 2014. Then Pendleton, Ashley Platt and Michael Dees locked him in the basement of Pendleton's house, detectives said. Swink, 32, was still in the basement when authorities say he started the fire that killed him.

Witnesses at the preliminary hearing testified, however, that Swink went to the basement on his own and was not being held against his will. An autopsy determined that Swink died of asphyxiation from smoke inhalation.

Pendleton, who was sentenced May 13 in Emery County to serve up to five years in prison for theft, is scheduled to be sentenced June 11 for the Carbon County cases.

Platt, 22, and Dees, 39, still face charges of murder, kidnapping and conspiracy for Swink's death. They are scheduled to go on trial July 20.

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