The girlfriend of a man accused of killing two Juab County teenagers and hiding their bodies in a mine shaft has pleaded guilty to obstructing justice.
Morgan Henderson, 35, was accused of lying to police for months about the whereabouts of 17-year-old Brelynne “Breezy” Otteson and 18-year-old Riley Powell, who disappeared in late December. Police interviewed Henderson multiple times, but each time she said she did not know what happened to them, according to charging documents.
Henderson changed her story over time, revealing she’d seen the teenagers at her Mammoth home the night they disappeared but saying she didn’t know what happened after they left her home, court documents stated.
In March, Henderson was arrested in Sanpete County on suspicion of keeping drugs and weapons in her car. She then told police that she saw her boyfriend, 41-year-old Jerrod Baum, kill the teenagers and push them into an abandoned mine shaft in Juab County, according to charging documents. She took investigators to the mine, near Eureka, where they found Otteson and Powell's bodies.
Baum faces two counts each of aggravated murder, aggravated kidnapping, abuse or desecration of a dead human body and other charges.
Henderson told police that Baum killed Powell and Otteson, who were dating each other, because they spent time with Henderson even though Baum did not want Henderson to have any male friends, according to charging documents.
Henderson on Friday pleaded guilty to 10 second-degree felony counts of obstructing justice.
The case drew national attention as family members and friends searched for the teenagers across Utah’s West Desert.
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