OGDEN -- Jeremy Valdes will remain in jail during his murder trial after 2nd District Judge Mark DeCaria denied him bail Friday morning.
Valdes is charged with two counts of aggravated murder and faces the death penalty in the deaths of Pamela Knight Jeffries, 56, and her son Matthew Roddy, 30. Their bodies were found in a closet in their mobile home in Roy on Nov. 30, 2009. Police suspect Valdes and his girlfriend Miranda Statler killed them five days earlier after the deceased had reported to police that prescription drugs had been stolen from their home.
The prosecution asked DeCaria to deny Valdes' request for bail because they are pursuing a capital felony against the man they deem a danger to the public. The crime was committed while Valdes was on probation for another felony over his drug abuse.
During the hearing, the prosecution called Jeremy Valdes' mother, Marilee Valdes, to the stand.
Weber County prosecutor Branden Miles read from transcripts of recorded jail house telephone calls between Jeremy Valdes and his mother.
"I can't believe she told them where the weapon was," the prosecutor read in one statement, referring to co-defendant Statler. She told police Valdes threw into the Ogden River the knife he's accused of using on Roddy. Jeffries was beaten and strangled.
The mother denied any admission of guilt by her son and repeatedly said she "did not recall" the conversations read aloud by the prosecutor.
Marilee Valdes said she and her son mostly talked about his life while he was in jail.
She described her son as a kind and gentle person who, up until medication for a work-related knee injury left him addicted to painkillers, had a stable job and owned his own home.
Defense attorney Gary Barr called Jeremy's sister, Nicole Valdes, and long-time family friend David Moala as character witnesses.
Both painted him in a similar light, describing Valdes as dependable and shy.
DeCaria said there was substantial evidence presented to deny bail based on the statutes cited by the prosecution. Statler is currently serving a potential 20-year prison term after pleading guilty to lesser charges in the homicides.
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