Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty against a man accused of beating to death his 4-year-old stepson, using a hammer to disfigure his face and burying the body in the northern Utah mountains. Nathanael Sloop, 33, is accused of beating Ethan Stacy for days before his death in May 2010.
The boy’s mother, Stephanie Sloop, filed for a marriage annulment and hired an Ogden Divorce Attorney in June 2010. She later withdrew the petition to keep details of her marriage from The Salt Lake Tribune, which won the right to inspect the court files.
A change in Utah law sealed all divorce and annulment pleadings in April, but court dockets show no renewed filings by Stephanie Sloop. Court clerks confirmed Friday the couple is still legally married.
Stephanie Sloop will face a separate trial and is accused of contributing to the boy’s death or failing to stop it.
The Sloops were newlyweds when they were charged with aggravated murder, second-degree felony child abuse, second-degree felony obstruction of justice and desecration of a body. A motive hasn’t been revealed.
The boy’s biological father, Joe G. Stacy of Tazewell, Va., has said he was forced to give up Ethan during summers as part of a divorce and custody battle. The boy died 10 days after his arrival to Utah. Authorities say he was beaten and malnourished and left behind one day as Nathaniel and Stephanie Sloop went off to exchange wedding vows.
Prosecutors have long said they were inclined to seek the death penalty if Sloop is convicted at trial. However, they have consistently refused to state their intentions for the boy’s biological mother.
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