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Sam Penrod reportingNew information today into the murders of two people in Sanpete County as the suspect in the case goes to court.
A man was killed in Mt. Pleasant and a woman, the suspect's ex-girlfriend, was murdered in Fairview. The suspect was captured in Oregon 24 hours later and was back in a Utah courtroom today to face a judge.
Prosecutors filed aggravated murder charges against Donald Richardson and, for the first time, gave an indication about what may have been the motivation for him to kill two people he knew earlier this month.
On April 10, a 39-year-old man was shot to death at his home in Mt. Pleasant, and Richardson's former girlfriend was found dead in her home in Fairview the next day. Today prosecutors dismissed rumors the two victims were in a relationship that resulted in a love triangle.
"We do not believe that has been substantiated by any of the evidence that we have seen yet. They were acquainted. They all knew each other from various sources. But a love triangle? We don't believe so," said Sanpete County Attorney Ross Blackham.
As for the motive behind the murder for Richardson's former girlfriend, Annette Young, Blackham said, "At this point in time, it seems to be a love relationship that went bad. And they did have a long-standing relationship off and on for years, and it just seems to have ended in a bad way."
Prosecutors believe Martin Cannon was killed within two hours after Young was murdered. "The motive for Martin Cannon we are uncertain of at this time, and we don't have a specific motive to that murder at that time. It may be as simple as somebody wanting to settle some old scores," Blackham said.
Prosecutors are considering seeking the death penalty against Richardson but will not make a final decision until after consulting with the victims' families and looking at all aspects of a case. "[It's a] serious case for Sanpete County. It is unusual for any rural county to have two homicides in one night, and so it's an important matter for the county and one we are treating very seriously," Blackham said.
The next step in this case will be appointing an attorney who is qualified to handle death-penalty cases.
Richardson will return to court here next week.
E-mail: spenrod@ksl.com
