Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
PROVO -- A judge has put on hold for two months the case for two men accused of murdering retired BYU professor Kay Mortensen.
The delay will give the new court-appointed attorneys for Martin Bond and Benjamin Rettig more time to review the prosecution's evidence.
Bond and Rettig, both 23, have each been charged with aggravated murder, two counts of aggravated kidnapping and one count of aggravated burglary, all first-degree felonies, in connection with Mortensen's death. Aggravated murder is a capital offense, which means prosecutors have the option of pursuing the death penalty.
Attorney Ron Yengich will defend Bond and Mike Esplin will defend Rettig. Both defense attorneys are qualified to hand capital murder cases.
Prosecutors charged the men in December following a tip that led investigators to a cache of guns allegedly stolen during the murder.
The evidence exonerated Mortensen's son, Roger, and his daughter-in-law, Pamela, who had been prime suspects.
Bond and Rettig will return to court for a hearing March 15.
E-mail: spenrod@ksl.com
