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PROVO — For a second day, Morgan Lewis described to a 4th District Court jury what she saw in late December when she witnessed the stabbing deaths of two young people near a mine shaft outside of Eureka.
Lewis — who said she was kneeling just a few feet from 17-year-old Brelynne "Breezy" Otteson — described how her then-boyfriend Jerrod Baum repeatedly punched 18-year-old Riley Powell. Moments later, Lewis said she realized that Baum was not just hitting Powell, but stabbing him. Powell fell to the ground, and Lewis said Baum continued to stab Powell in the head, chest, stomach and crotch.
"He was silent, then all of a sudden he said, 'I'm dying,'" Lewis told the jury Tuesday. "It sounded like he was drowning, and he gurgled. I remember thinking, like I think he'd been stabbed in the lung or his throat had been cut because he was gurgling. It sounded like he was drowning, it was the most terrible noise."
She testified that Baum then turned to Otteson, who was also kneeling on the ground with her hands tied. Lewis said Otteson then said she wouldn't tell anybody about the killing, and Baum replied by saying, "It's OK darlin'."
Lewis said Baum shushed Otteson and put his arms around her before she slumped forward. Prosecutors said during opening arguments Monday that Otteson's throat was slit. She said Baum threw of their bodies down a mine shaft, where they would be found months later in March 2018.
"I was still on my knees, I was crying," Lewis said. "I was thinking like, 'This is it, here we go. It's my turn.'" Instead of killing her, Lewis said Baum told her there was a lot of work to do, and she needed to pull herself together.
Lewis previously testified that she invited Powell and Otteson to her house that night because Baum was supposed to be staying with a family member. She said Baum didn't want her to have people over when she wasn't around. But Baum came home after the young couple had left and she later discovered they were tied up in the back of Powell's Jeep.
Lewis — who has previously been referred to as Morgan Henderson — is the first witness to be called in Baum's trial. The 45-year-old Baum is on trial for two counts of aggravated murder, a first-degree felony; two counts of aggravated kidnapping, a first-degree felony; two counts of desecration of a dead body, a third-degree felony; obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony; and possession of a dangerous weapon as a restricted person, a third-degree felony.
After her testimony regarding the killings, Lewis said she continued crying until Baum threatened her life and told her to pull herself together. The two then hid Powell's Jeep and returned to Baum's home in Mammoth, a small community in Juab County.
Lewis said Baum told her to take her clothes off and Baum then cut their clothes, shoes and gloves into pieces before soaking them in bleach. Both later took a shower in bleach, Lewis said. She said Baum later burned the clothing and hid the young couple's cellphones in a rusty barrel full of oily sludge.
In the weeks after the killings, Lewis said Baum had her keep up with any news regarding the disappearance of Powell and Otteson, just like a regular community member would. She said she read posts on Facebook from family members as they searched for the two, which Lewis said made Baum happy, because "he enjoys pain."
Lewis later said she was pulled over for speeding in March 2018 and arrested on drug and weapon charges. She was interviewed by investigators at the Sanpete County Jail, where she was also questioned about Powell's and Otteson's disappearance. She told the jury that, at that time, she was still scared of Baum and what would happen if she talked about the killings.
Over multiple days, Lewis gave police more and more information — about where potential evidence could be found, and ultimately, where police could find the bodies. Eventually, one detective told Lewis that police had found the two bodies at the bottom of the mine shaft, she said, and the detective showed her a photo of Powell's body. She testified that was the moment she decided to fully tell police what had happened.
"'Morgan, that's your friend,'" she said she recalled thinking, while seeing the photo. "'You need to do the right thing.'"
Lewis later testified against Baum at a 2019 preliminary hearing.
During opening statements Monday, defense attorney Dallas Young said the prosecution's case is flawed, saying Lewis' statements have been inconsistent with evidence. Young also pointed to Lewis being charged and pleading guilty to 10 counts of felony obstruction of justice in 2018, after she had lied to police during the murder investigation.
If convicted, Baum could face a sentence of up to life in prison, without the possibility of parole. His trial and Lewis' testimony is scheduled to continue on Wednesday.
