http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/57494913-78/sloop-death-ethan-law.html.cspNearly four years after the body of Ethan Stacy was found buried on a mountainside in Weber County, the child’s stepfather — Nathan Sloop — admitted Tuesday that he played a role in the 4-year-old’s death.
Sloop, 35, pleaded guilty but mentally ill to aggravated murder for the 2010 death of Ethan Stacy.
"That boy died on my watch, and I’m horribly sorry," Nathan Sloop told 2nd District Judge Glen Dawson.
"I want to apologize to all those who were affected by my reckless indifference to Ethan Stacy," Sloop added.
Sloop also pleaded guilty but mentally ill to aggravated assault by a prisoner for attacking a David County jail officer.
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The plea deal spares Sloop from facing the death penalty.
Sloop was immediately sentenced to 25 years to life in prison on the murder count, and 1 to 15 years for the aggravated assault. The judge ordered the two sentences to run concurrently.
Attorneys have stipulated that while Sloop was mentally ill at the time Ethan Stacy died, he is not mentally ill now.
Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings said the plea negotiation minimizes the risk of appeal. He said evidence suppression and constitutionality issues also played a part in fashioning the plea deal.
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Sloop’s wife and Ethan’s mother, Stephanie Sloop, 31, has been charged with essentially the same counts as her husband, but prosecutors have not said whether they intend to seek the death penalty for her. She is scheduled to appear in court next Tuesday for a status conference.
Charging documents state the Layton couple engaged in multiple acts of "severe abuse" between April 29 and May 8 in 2010 that led to Ethan’s death, including "beatings, burning, drugging, isolating, malnourishing, leaving the child alone and unattended while suffering, and refusing to seek vital life-sustaining medical attention."
The couple — who said they left the injured boy in a locked bedroom while they got married on May 6 — reported Ethan missing to police on Mother’s Day, May 10, after discovering the boy was dead. But after a 12-hour search, police say the couple confessed to burying the boy near Powder Mountain Ski Resort in Weber County.
Nathan Sloop, who led officers to the body on May 11, told police he used a hammer to disfigure the boy’s face and teeth in an effort to hinder identification.
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Also to be dismissed as part of Nathan Sloop’s plea deal was a charge of second-degree felony aggravated assault by a prisoner from an unrelated case. In that case, Sloop was accused of assaulting a deputy on Nov. 21. He was accused of punching the deputy in the face twice, attempting to gouge out the deputy’s left eye and biting into the deputy’s thumb. Charging documents said the deputy’s thumb injury required "multi-layer sutures."
Me too. I am reluctant to even click on this thread. If I even catch a glimpse of Ethan's photo, I will bawl. (I see his face in my head right now, as it is, and it hurts)This story has always affected me, I can't even read how he was abused on page 15...I just hate that he was hurt. Maybe because my son was his age when Ethan was killed? I don't know... But this one hit me hard since the first time I read it.
http://fox13now.com/2014/02/11/stephanie-sloop-cries-in-court-hearing-in-ethan-stacy-murder/The woman accused of killing her 4-year-old son made a brief appearance in court, a week after her husband struck a plea deal in the slaying.
Stephanie Sloop cried as she sat in the courtroom,
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“We have an outstanding issue that has not been resolved by the disposition in Mr. Sloop’s case,” defense attorney Mary Corporon
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Corporon said there is evidence that could be “exculpatory” for Stephanie Sloop, but Nathan Sloop’s lawyers were not willing to hand it over.
“There’s a competing constitutional claim,” she told the judge, adding that she could not proceed with the case without that evidence.
“We disclosed it, she ought to have access to it,” Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings said, but added that Nathan Sloop’s attorneys have a claim on the evidence. “The competition is between Mr. and Mrs. Sloop.”
Second District Court Judge Glen Dawson said he would schedule a hearing so that the matter of who is entitled to the evidence could be determined. That meant that future hearings for Stephanie Sloop would be delayed.
She stood and choked back tears as Judge Dawson asked if she would waive her right to a speedy trial.
“Yes, your honor,” she said.
Last week, Nathan Sloop pleaded guilty but mentally ill to murder in Ethan’s death. He was sentenced to 25-to-life in prison.
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"I want to apologize to all those who were affected by my reckless indifference to Ethan Stacy," Sloop added.
http://www.standard.net/stories/201...p-due-court-husband-pleads-guilty-sons-murderAccording to the probable cause statement, she "told police officers and dispatch that Ethan had done this over the past four nights."
After an extensive search, police learned the little boy had not left the apartment, but the Sloops had found him dead in his room, according to the document.
Stephanie Sloop admitted to police that Nathan Sloop had gotten angry with Ethan and took him in his bedroom, where she could hear "Nate slapping Ethan in the bedroom," according to the document.
When she went into the bedroom, she found "Ethan badly beaten about the head area," and she knew he needed medical attention, but never got it, according to the document.
She told police her son was ill over the next several days, and at one point she and Nathan Sloop forced the boy to drink two 16-ounce bottles of water, a 16-ounce bottle of Kool-Aid and a glass of orange juice, according to the document.
Stephanie Sloop also told police that the boy was burned in the bathtub but she also did not seek medical attention for him. Several more days passed, and Ethan was still sick.
In the early morning hours of May 9, 2010, the couple realized Ethan had died, according to the documents.
They took the boy's body to a place near Powder Mountain and buried him there, police said.
Stephanie Sloop had gone to two convenience stores in the area, according to the probable cause statement. At one store, she bought two cans of lighter fluid and at another store she bought two slush drinks.
She told officers the lighter fluid was for Nathan Sloop, "because he wanted to burn the body," according to the probable cause statement.
I couldn't really make that out.
Anna becomes their latest subject and is imprisoned in a chamber. After an unspecified period, during which she is repeatedly beaten and degraded, Anna hallucinates a conversation with Lucie, who tells her to "let go" so she won't be afraid any more. Soon after, Anna is told she has progressed further than any other test subject, and has reached the "final stage" and will suffer no more. Anna is taken to a surgeon and is flayed alive. She survives the procedure, entering a state that is described as being "euphoric" and likened to achieving transcendence. Mademoiselle arrives, eager to speak to Anna about her experience. Anna turns to her and whispers into her ear.
A woman charged in the death of her 4-year-old son has struck a plea deal with prosecutors.
Stephanie Sloop pleaded guilty on Monday to aggravated murder and obstruction of justice in the murder of Ethan Stacy. In exchange, prosecutors removed the possibility and the death penalty and dropped charges of child abuse and desecration of a body.
“My selfish behavior is the reason I am standing here today pleading guilty to these charges,” Sloop sobbed as she addressed the judge.
“The fact is, I am entirely responsible because I am his mommy! I failed to take care of him properly because I couldn’t even take care of myself. My selfishness and failures as a parent cost ‘pumpkin’s’ death, and there’s no changing the fact that I am the one responsible.”
She was sentenced by 2nd District Court Judge Thomas Kay to serve 20-to-life in prison for murder, and 1-to-15 for obstruction of justice. The judge gave her credit for time served, which is about four years.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...g-child-recognition-hammer.html#ixzz3JMjdBBiE[...]
mother whose four-year-old son was malnourished, scalded, beaten with a hammer and then buried in a shallow grave has been sentenced to at least 20 years in prison
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Stephanie Sloop, 31, was given 20 years to life behind bars for Ethan Stacy's 2010 death.
Sloop pleaded guilty to aggravated murder and obstructing justice under a deal
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Sloop sobbed in court in Farmington, Utah as she admitted she was completely responsible for her son's brutal death, following days of starvation and torture at the hands of her husband, 'because I was his mommy'.
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The 31-year-old fidgeted today as the court heard details of the child's brutal torture.
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medical examiner testified that Ethan died from a combination of too many over-the-counter medications, aspiration pneumonia and severe burns, likely caused from hot water in a tub.
Aspiration pneumonia is caused by an inhalation of foreign materials into the lungs, potentially vomit, or as prosecutors suggested, fecal matter that the boy allegedly was forced to eat.
The burns would have required skin grafts and weeks of hospital treatment
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Nathan Sloop confessed to wrapping the body in garbage bags and putting him in a shallow grave he dug on the mountainside.
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boy’s body and items used to bury it were put in the hole in layers. A hammer was used to disfigure the boy.
Stephanie Sloop bought lighter fluid, a shovel and some gloves at a hardware store beforehand.
The day the boy was buried, Nathan Sloop sent a text message to his wife, which was shown in court: 'Baby can you get antioxidant vitamins please. That would be great. I can’t wait to take you to Happy Sumo. Memories. Love you!!!'
Days later, they called police and reported Ethan as missing. Nathan Sloop ultimately led police to where the boy was buried.
Sloop's lawyer told the court that she suffered from 'battered wife syndrome' and had a prescription medication addiction while her son was being abused,
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Ethan’s father, Joe Stacy, was present in the courtroom to watch his ex-wife be sentenced.
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that he had been 'broken up' by his son's death.
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Sloop buried the child on Powder Mountain in Weber Country, Utah after he left the child's face disfigured by hammer blows and his grave sprinkled with dog food.
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A number of other charges were dismissed as part of a plea deal, which also spared him from the death penalty.
Sloop’s attorney, Richard Mauro, said his client’s mental illness coupled with a high number of prescription painkillers and other medications Sloop was taking at the time led to his indifference to the child’s life.
Previous court documents show Sloop was prescribed 4,146 pills in an 11-month period. Among the prescriptions were Lortab, Valium, Percocet, Xanax and an antihistamine.