Dad finally sent to prison for murdering mom in 1996; son, then 2, was in home at time (Magna, Utah)

Dad BILLY JUSTIN CHARLES has finally been convicted for the murder of his fiancee, the mother of their 2-year-old son, which took place back in 1996. He murdered her the day before they were supposed to marry. The son was in the home at the time. According to witnesses, Dad never asked about the little boy when told of the murder.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705333827/Man-sent-to-prison-for-killing-fiancee.html?pg=1

Man sent to prison for killing fiancee
By Linda Thomson

Deseret News

Published: Thursday, Oct. 1, 2009 9:48 p.m. MDT

The packed courtroom grew still as the 15-year-old boy approached the podium and began to talk to the judge about his murdered mother and his father, who would soon go to prison for her long-ago death.

"I don't know what to say," the teen said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other and looking around.

"I'm terribly sorry for this position you're in," 3rd District Judge Deno Himonas said softly.

"I guess my mom must have really loved him," the teen said. "Either way, I love my dad. I just hope one day he realizes what he did was wrong, and may God forgive him. I just wish the best for him."

On Thursday, Himonas sentenced the teen's father, Billy Justin Charles, to five-years-to-life in prison, which was the penalty for murder at the time of the teen's mother's death.

Charles, 33, was convicted in April of the 1996 murder of Jamie Ellen Weiss, 18, in the Magna mobile home the two were sharing with their then-2-year-old son. She was found dead in a bathtub of running water the day before the couple was to be married. She died of blunt force trauma and asphyxiation.

Her death was classified as a homicide in 1996, but the case went cold until it was reopened in 2007 and Charles was charged with murder, a first-degree felony.

During the trial, defense attorneys raised questions about whether Charles' drug dealing had brought unsavory people into the area who might have harmed Weiss, or perhaps a jealous jilted girlfriend.

Prosecutors, however, said witness testimony showed Charles was unnaturally calm when informed about Weiss' death and never asked about their little boy, who was in the home at the time Weiss was killed.

Deborah Nelson, Weiss' mother, said Thursday that she had waited 13 years for this day and chided Charles for being in denial.

"You beat her and strangled her to her death," Nelson said. "Your blood is on her hands."

Nelson said this act deprived Weiss' entire family of her company, but it was especially cruel to the young son, who now does not remember his mother. Nelson pledged to "fight until my death" to keep Charles behind bars unless he admits he killed Weiss.

"Billy, you need to tell the truth," Nelson said. "You need to apologize to (the son)."

Barri Nelson, Weiss' stepfather, backed his wife's statements and said he knew it was a bad idea for Weiss to become "infatuated" with Charles when she was only 14 or 15.

Andraya Nelson, the dead woman's sister, told Charles, "You've robbed so much from our lives."

Weiss' grandfather, Jack Weiss, wept as he recalled how proud Jamie Weiss was when she showed him her newborn son, and he wondered aloud why Charles, if there were problems in the relationship, simply didn't leave.

"I don't know why he didn't just walk away," Jack Weiss said, sobbing. "I don't know why he killed her. I don't know if I'll ever forgive Billy Charles, but I hope he gets his just reward."

Charles, however, was adamant that he did not commit this crime.

"Whoever did this is out walking free," Charles said, adding that Jamie Weiss was taken from him and his family just as much as her own. "This crime hasn't been solved. I am innocent."

As he was taken from the courtroom to head for prison, members of Charles' family wept and called out, "We love you, Billy!"

Outside the courtroom, Penny Gutierrez, a close friend of Deborah Nelson, fumed about the sentence.

"I don't think it was harsh enough," she said. "It's going to be terrible to relive this in five years (at a parole board hearing). I don't think it was satisfying. All Debbie ever begged for was for him to admit it and she would forgive him."