Inset left: Alexander Paul Wardell (Utah Department of Corrections). Inset right: Morgan Kay Harris (Family Members). History: The storage space lost where Harris was melted to death (Murray Fire).
A Utah male that previously prevented prosecution for his girlfriend” s death is now facing murder charges for that claimed crime.
On Feb. 18, 2023, Morgan Kay Harris, 27, passed away in a fire while she was trapped inside the storage space system she and her guy called home– in addition to her pet, Huck.
In May 2024, Salt Lake County Area Attorney Sim Gill almost vindicated the boyfriend, Alexander Paul Wardell, 33, saying a lengthy examination did not indicate him starting the fire.
On Thursday, the Beehive State’s top police authorities took the reins– and took the instance in the specific opposite direction. Wardell now stands implicated of murder or, conversely, murder , according to the Utah Attorney general of the United States’s Office. He is likewise billed with one count each of kidnapping and aggravated animal viciousness
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The evidence bordering the timing of the fire was cited as one of the major reasons the regional DA decreased to press charges.
“The screening revealed the fire was most likely between 6 – 15 mins long,” Gill stated, according to Salt Lake City-based NBC affiliate KSL “Wardell was away from the unit for an overall of 22 minutes, making it not likely that Wardell purposefully triggered the fire prior to leaving the system.”
The examination pointed out by Gill was conducted by several companies– including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. Gill likewise sent 2 prosecutors from his own workplace to carry out regulated burns on replicas of the storage unit at the ATF’s Fire Research Lab in Maryland.
The DA’s last report on the fire summarized its outcomes as complies with:
[W] hile various other causes might be eliminated from causing the fire that eliminated Ms. Harris, the complying with were all possible and could not be removed as feasible causes: an unexpected smoldering fire caused by disposed of cigarette smoking products from cigarettes; an unintentional fire triggered by using candles; or while “not most likely” a willful fire set by Mr. Wardell.
Still, concerns remained– and backlash adhered to — due to the situations of why Harris was also in the storage space system at the time.
Wardell allegedly admitted he shut the storage system and afterwards secured the door– knowing the female and the canine were within– while he strolled over to a nearby Walmart, according to Salt Lake City police.
In the immediate results of Harris’ death, Wardell was arrested on suspicion of irresponsible homicide and kidnapping.
Once again, Gill had an answer to his office’s doubters. The DA stated there was simply no proof that either citizen of those inadequate quarters did anything aside from secure the door each time they left. The prosecutor additionally claimed there was no proof Harris was held there against her will.
“Exactly how do I show she did not consent to that? With what evidence do I do that? Who do I put on the stand?” he asked out loud in remarks reported by KSL at the time “We discovered no evidence going through her phone, his phone, all the product that we might gather, that led us to reach any one of that factor … we looked. We searched, we looked if there was any type of humanly possible way to verbalize to fulfill those elements for the purpose of filing charges. We can not get there.”
The initial decision not to adhere to up Wardell’s arrest with an indictment quickly caused a broader indictment of the Utah justice system itself. The partner, it turned out, had actually previously been convicted of domestic violence on two different occasions. As a matter of fact, 2 days before she passed away, Harris bailed Wardell out of prison for the second time; he had actually been detained for breaching his probation on the most recent domestic violence conviction. As of his indictment, Wardell is in the Utah State Correctional Facility serving time for those sentences.
“The justice system fell short prior to she passed away in that he was a convicted crook, founded guilty and sentenced to five years, which he never ever served, and was still enabled to even be around one more woman,” Harris’ mother told KSL in May 2024
Still, yet extra evidentiary obstacles restricted the local DA from progressing. One of the last major questions was the placement of Harris’ body. Gill stated it did not appear she also made it to the door during the fire– so the truth of the device being secured was “unimportant in her manner of fatality.” In sum, the DA stated it would not be “ethical” to arraign Wardell based upon the evidence he was able to marshal.
State private investigators reached a different verdict– largely based on proof culled from a satchel originally gotten by authorities in Murray, a suburban area of Salt Lake City located instantly due south.
“In it, investigators discovered an extra-large blue button-down long-sleeve tee shirt wadded up in the center of other extra-large garments,” the new billing paper obtained by KSL reads. “Blood stains and melt marks appeared to be on the tee shirt. A fast DNA test exposed the evaluated red brownish stains to be blood and the DNA in the blood matched (Harris’) DNA.”
The AG’s office likewise states they acquired evidence the pair were mad with each other for time– a number of days before and including the day of the fire.
“The body position of (Wardell and Harris) supports that (they) were suggesting,” the new charges reviewed, describing surveillance video footage.
Additionally, 10 days prior to the fire, Harris presumably sent out Wardell the adhering to Facebook message: “Guess I’m gon na put on live by myself at an apartment you won’t find out about so you can’t (expletive) abuse or eliminate me.”
The new prosecutors additionally declare to have actually discovered proof Wardell was crazy about Harris spending cash and that he “done Google look for ‘how to obtain a key'” in the days before her death.
“The billed fatality is supported by significant evidence, that includes evidence supplied by multiple witnesses,” the new costs read.