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A Payson man wrongly accused of killing his father in Utah County nearly two years ago was ordered to 36 months of probation after pleading guilty to a separate gun crime in federal court.
Roger Kay Mortensen pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition in April. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell handed down Mortensen's sentence, after hearing a request from Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Drew Yeates that the defendant serve prison time because of his explosive temper.
Roger Mortensen admitted to possessing a Vector Arms Uzi-type 9 mm machine gun — along with several other firearms — that Utah County authorities initially said were stolen from his father, former BYU professor Kay Mortensen, who was killed on Nov. 16, 2009.
Roger Mortensen's attorney Wendy Lewis told Campbell that Roger Mortensen took the weapons after Kay Mortensen died, because the guns were a part of his father's estate that Roger Mortensen was due to inherit. Although Roger Mortensen knew he couldn't possess weapons because of he is a convicted felon, he made the poor choice of trying to hide his father's guns in his garage in part because of a brain injury he received in an ATV accident in 1994, Lewis said.
That accident changed his personality, Lewis said. Before 1994, Roger Mortensen found success in the Navy and held down a state job. After the accident he became mixed up with drugs and displayed combative behavior, she said. He was beaten in jail in 1999 and again in 2002, when his stepson assaulted him with a baseball bat and he had to have metal plates put in his head, Lewis said.
Lewis conceded that Roger Mortensen's personality changes following his 1994 accident contributed to police labeling him as a suspect in his father's murder.
"He has an affect and demeanor that are unusual," Lewis said.
Roger Mortensen, 49, and his wife, 36-year-old Pamela Mortensen, were charged with Kay Mortensen's slaying, but the two were later exonerated after two other suspects were linked to the crime. The Mortensens spent nearly six months in jail while wrongly accused.
But Yeates contended that Roger Mortensen used his jail stint to intimidate a snowmobiler during a fit of anger in March.
Yeates said a snowmobiler got into an argument with Roger Mortensen in Utah County over Roger Mortensen's dogs running wild. The snowmobiler kicked one of Roger Mortensen's dogs, and the man became enraged, Yeates said.
He reportedly yelled, "You had better be worried about your equipment when you leave!" Yeates said. Roger Mortensen then walked toward the snowmobiler with fists clenched and said "I just got out of jail for murder!"
Yeates also cited a prior road rage assault in which Roger Mortensen pulled out a handgun to intimidate a Boy Scout leader while seven young scouts were present. He added that Roger Mortensen's sister told him in a phone call that he shouldn't be handling their father's guns as part of estate proceedings because of his criminal history.
"Mr. Mortensen has had a difficult life. Nevertheless ... he was culpable in this case. He knew what he was doing. And he involved a friend," Yeates told Campbell.
Campbell said she wasn't sure what to do in the case, and called Yeates' information "concerning." She ruled in favor of probation, with the caveat that Mortensen stay under strict supervision and continue to attend veteran's court with U.S. Magistrate Paul Warner. The program is designed to rehabilitate veterans who have had brushes with the law. Roger Mortensen must also continue to take medication for mental health conditions, Campbell ruled.
Roger Mortensen and his wife declined to speak to the media following Thursday's hearing. Another one of Roger Mortensen's attorneys, Anthony Howell, declined to answer questions about whether the Mortensens intend to pursue legal action against law enforcement that wrongly
Roger Mortensen, whose criminal history includes theft by receiving stolen property, was originally indicted on being a felon in possession of firearms, illegal possession of a machine gun, and being in possession of an unregistered machine gun. As part of the plea agreement he reached with prosecutors in federal court, he admitted to only one felony count of being a felon in possession of firearms and the other charges were dismissed.
The maximum penalty Roger Mortensen could have received was up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release. Sentencing guidelines based on a number of factors, including his likelihood to re-offend, placed his recommended incarceration time at 21 to 27 months.
Roger Mortensen's co-defendant in the federal gun case, William Robert Lemieux, was also sentenced before Campbell on Thursday. The 27-year-old Springville man received 36 months of probation.
Lemieux pleaded guilty in March to one count of possession of an unregistered machine gun and admitted to helping Roger Mortensen handle his father's gun collection.
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Cases against suspects in Kay Mortensen murder pending in court
Martin Cameron Bond and Benjamin David Rettig, both 23, are charged with first-degree felony murder in connection with slitting 70-year-old Kay Mortensen's throat during a home-invasion robbery in 2009.
Earlier this month, Rettig pleaded guilty in 4th District Court to aggravated murder and aggravated kidnapping. In exchange for the plea, prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty and drop felony counts of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated burglary against Rettig.
Rettig faces 25 years to life in prison with the possibility of parole when he is sentenced on July 19. A capital case remains against Bond, whose preliminary hearing is set for July. Rettig has agreed to testify against his co-defendant.