Alleged U. shooter faces more charges after threatening to stab officer in jail

A Salt Lake County inmate — accused of fatally shooting a University of Utah student — allegedly threatened to stab an officer in his cell.

Austin Jeffrey Boutain, 24, was charged in 3rd District Court on Friday with possessing items prohibited in a correctional facility, a second-degree felony; and threat of violence, a class B misdemeanor.

Boutain arrived at Salt Lake County jail on Oct. 31 after reportedly killing 23-year-old ChenWei Guo in the foothills behind the University of Utah and evading police for 14 hours.

The latest charges originate from February.

On Feb. 18, Boutain was escorted from the multipurpose room to his cell, according to new court documents.

Once the officers left the cell, Boutain pulled a shank out from his waistband and repeatedly threatened to stab the first officer who came through the cell door, documents state.

He stabbed the mattress, reportedly to demonstrate how sharp the edge was.

Then he tied the shank around his wrist, which made taking it away difficult for officers, according to the documents.

Correctional officers used pepper spray, showering the cell with the irritating chemical until Boutain surrendered the shank.

Boutain was initially charged in 3rd District Court with aggravated murder and a dozen other felonies. Since then, additional charges have piled up.

In January, he was accused of assaulting a fellow inmate with sharpened nail clippers. In March, he reportedly made weapons out of items he found in his jail cell and hid them in his body — well enough, he reportedly said, that he could get them past full-body scanners. Boutain has not yet been charged for his reported antics in March.

Before coming to Utah, Boutain and his wife, Kathleen Boutain, allegedly killed a man in Colorado, then stole his truck to drive to Salt Lake City.

Kathleen Boutain is not facing murder charges, but she is accused of criminal solicitation and theft by receiving stolen property.

Austin Boutain is in a section of the jail where deputies can observe him more closely, according to Sgt. Kevin Hunter, of the Salt Lake County jail. The inmate doesn’t have a cellmate, and his cell is searched on a daily basis, as are all cells in the jail, Hunter added.