Ethan Stacy -- Found Deceased 5/11/10

This is really sad.
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Police: Utah man beat, disfigured slain boy
Prosecutors expect to file charges against mom, stepfather on Friday

By JENNIFER DOBNER, PAUL FOY
Associated Press Writers
updated 1 hour, 57 minutes ago

SALT LAKE CITY - The Utah stepfather held in the slaying of a 4-year-old child beat him for days before the boy died, then used a hammer to disfigure his face and teeth before burying the body in the mountains, according to police records released late Wednesday.

The body of Ethan Stacy, wrapped in plastic, was unearthed by police on Tuesday.

Interview summaries filed by Layton police detectives documented a pattern of increasingly harsh treatment of the boy, who was sent by a Virginia judge to Utah for a summer visit with his mother.

Investigators said they obtained photographs and video images of the boy's progressively worse condition from the mother's cell phone, starting more than a week ago.

Read more here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37120003/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

Oh, how awful! It appears the father had custody and was forced to send Ethan to Utah for the summer with his mother. Just heartbreaking, what could a 4 year old do to possibly make someone this mad and hate them for no reason?.....

Ethan Stacy Murdered: Nathan Sloop and Stephanie Sloop Murder Charge

Wednesday, May 12th, 2010 at 8:12 pm



Ethan Stacy, 4

Ethan Stacy, murdered and then buried in the Utah mountains was only four years old at the time of his death. The Nathan Sloop and Stephanie Sloop murder charge is made all the more horrific when you learn that Stephanie Sloop was Ethan Stacy’s mother, and Nathan Sloop was his step-father. Ethan Stacy went to Utah after a judge in Virginia ordered that the boy be sent to Utah for summer parent-time with his mother. Ethan’s parents were fighting over custody in Virgina, and after a hearing he came to Utah. He was murdered sometime in the last 10 days.

Read more about the details of the murder of Ethan Stacy, the allegations of abuse against his mother and step-father, and see a video about the story below.


Nathan Sloop has been charged with aggravated homicide (which brings the possibility of the death penalty being sought), felony child abuse, obstruction of justice, desecration of a corpse, and damaging his holding cell. Stephanie Sloop has been charged with felony child abuse, obstruction of justice and desecration of a corpse. Formal charges will be filed Friday, and the Sloops will make their initial appearance in Court at that time.

Nathan and Stephanie Sloop were married six days ago a the Davis County Courthouse, the same Courthouse where they will be facing murder charges for killing Ethan Stacy. While the couple was getting married little Ethan was locked in his bedroom suffering from head injuries that were inflicted at the hands of his step-father Nathan. It is alleged that Nathan began beating Ethan almost immediately after arriving in Utah, but his mother refused to seek medical attention because she was afraid she would be arrested for abuse.

The night of May 10th Stephanie Sloop reported to policethat her son was missing from his bed and that he had frequently wandered away from the apartment, but had always returned. Police began searching the area, and after interviewing the parents the next day the search lead to Ogden Canyon near Powder Mountain Ski Resort. It is in that area that police found the buried, desecrated body of Ethan Stacy.

So, Ethan Stacy, murdered at only age four, was the tragic end to the search for this missing child. The Nathan Sloop and Stephanie Sloop murder charge could lead to the death penalty for Nathan Sloop and life behind bars for Stephanie Sloop. I would be pleased with both results. It disturbs me to no end to read stories about the murder of such small and innocent victims. Ethan Stacy did nothing to deserve his fate. I’m sure that there will be those who criticize the judge for ordering visitation with Stephanie Sloop, but honestly there is no way that the judge could have known of this result, and would not have ordered the visit if such a result were even likely.

http://law.rightpundits.com/?p=1603


Stephanie Sloop - Mother


Nathanial Sloop - Stepfather

Nathan's mother did nothing to defend Nathan, so she deserves to be charged in his death along with the abusive man she hastily married.

Poor little boy. He couldn't fight back, and was beaten to death, with no one to protect him.

Another case where a mother stood by and allowed abuse. Why?

Missing boy found dead; mother, stepfather arrested
Crime » Layton police say mom and stepdad's stories 'changed' as they tried to 'cover their tracks' as police discover body in Weber County.

By Sheena McFarland, Bob Mims And Erin Alberty
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 05/12/2010 01:53:31 PM MDT



The body of a missing 4-year-old boy has been found, and his parents have been arrested in his death.

Ethan Stacy's body was found Tuesday, buried next to a trail near the Powder Mountain ski resort. Ethan's stepfather, Nathan Sloop, was arrested on suspicion of homicide. Nathan Sloop and Ethan's mother, Stephanie Sloop, both were arrested on suspicion of child abuse, obstruction of justice and desecration of a corpse, Layton police said.

Investigators would not say how they think Ethan died or how his body was desecrated.

Ethan, who lived in Virginia, arrived in Layton about two weeks ago to spend the summer with the Sloops, said Layton police Lt. Garret Atkin.

Stephanie and Nathan Sloop married May 1, he said.

Late Monday night, Stephanie Sloop called police to report Ethan was missing, Atkin said. She claimed she had put Ethan to bed about 9 p.m., but he was gone when she checked on him later. She also said he had wandered off several times before but always returned.

Throughout the night and Tuesday morning, police searched the area surrounding the Sloops' apartment complex, near 500 West and 1400 North in Layton, questioning a dozen registered sex offenders in the area, sweeping neighboring apartments and interviewing "persons of interest," Atkin said.

During those interviews, police learned of the "burial site" near Powder Mountain, Atkin said.

Crews searched near the Wolf Canyon trailhead on State Road 158 in Weber County. Canopies were erected over two separate sites less than a quarter mile up the trail.

Investigators could be seen carrying shovels to and from the scene, where muddy conditions complicated the search, Atkin said.

The body of a boy matching Ethan's description was found at 5 p.m. Atkins said he would not "go into the gory details" as to the body's condition.

Investigators do not know how long the body had been buried.

It is not clear whether the boy was killed at the trail or if his body was brought there from another place, Atkin said.

Police would not say who pointed investigators to Wolf Canyon or whether the Sloops confessed outright to killing Ethan. Atkin said only that "their stories changed during the process."

"They were trying to cover their tracks," he said.

Police do not yet know whether Ethan actually had a history of wandering away from home.

His biological father has been contacted, Atkin said. Police would not release the father's name, and Atkin said he did not know the city in Virginia where Ethan lived.

Police are investigating no other potential suspects, Atkin said.

Nathan Sloop has a history of drug convictions and other crimes dating back to 2000. Most recently, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance in 2003.

Stephanie Sloop has no criminal history in Utah under her married name; Atkin said he did not know her maiden name or previous married names.

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_15060682?source=pkg

Documents detail Ethan Stacy's horrific final days
Layton Police » Beaten and burned 4-year-old was left alone while couple went to wed.

By Sheena McFarland
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 05/13/2010 02:39:28 PM MDT

As Ethan Stacy suffered from serious injuries sustained during a beating and needed medical attention, his mother and her boyfriend locked the 4-year-old boy in a room and went to get married.

Police documents released Wednesday detail the last days in the life of the boy whose body was found Tuesday buried near Powder Mountain.

On May 5, Ethan's eventual stepfather, Nathan Sloop, took the boy into a bedroom, closed the door and began slapping him and beating him around the head and face, according to an interview with the boy's mother, Stephanie Sloop, in police documents. When she walked in afterward, she saw Ethan's face was swelling and he needed medical attention, but she did not seek help, according to the probable cause statement filed by arresting Layton police officers.

The next day, the couple locked the boy in a bedroom by removing the inside doorknob and left to wed at the Davis County Memorial Courthouse in Farmington. They did not take Ethan with them because they worried someone would call police because of his injuries, Stephanie Sloop told officers.

During the next three days, Ethan would not eat, was lethargic, had a fever and was vomiting. The couple forced the boy to drink water, Kool-Aid and orange juice. They gave him Benadryl and Motrin to take down the swelling and subdue him, but did not seek medical attention, Stephanie Sloop said.

On Friday, Stephanie Sloop returned to their Layton apartment after shopping at Wal-Mart to find the boy was badly burned on his feet and legs from an overly hot bath. Nathan Sloop told her it was an accident. She said she did not believe him but still did not seek medical help because her husband would hurt her, the documents state.

She said Ethan was asleep in bed when she checked on him at 3 a.m. Sunday. She went to the pharmacy for a prescription for her husband, and when she returned at 5:30 a.m. that Mother's Day, he told her Ethan was dead. She said she did not call police then because her husband told her he would go to prison because of the bruises on the boy's body.

Instead, they took his body to an area near Powder Mountain and made efforts to disfigure the body in an apparent attempt to delay identification. After Nathan Sloop buried Ethan, he guided Stephanie Sloop to the grave to say her last goodbyes.

Monday night, Stephanie Sloop called police, saying her son had been wandering off for the past several nights and that she could not find him. After 40 officers spent 12 hours scouring the area, the Sloops' story unraveled and the investigation turned to Powder Mountain. Nathan Sloop led police to Ethan's makeshift grave, where they recovered his body at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

That night, officers arrested Nathan Sloop on suspicion of aggravated homicide, and both he and Stephanie Sloop on suspicion of child abuse, obstruction of justice and desecration of a body. The Davis County Attorney's Office plans to file charges against the couple Friday morning.

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_15074629?source=pkg

Slain boy's dad: 'I just wanted him to grow up ... where it was safe'

Murder » A court order forced father to send Ethan Stacy, 4, to spend the summer with his mother.

By Sheena McFarland
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 05/13/2010 10:05:33 AM MDT



Joe Stacy didn't want to send his son to Utah for a summer-long visit with his mother. He worried she was too unstable to care for him, but a court order in their divorce left him no choice.

"I just wanted him to grow up where his daddy grew up, in a small town in the mountains," he said Wednesday from Virginia. "Where it was safe."

Instead, 4-year-old Ethan Stacy will return to the town of Richlands for his burial, just more than two weeks after Joe Stacy watched his ex-wife walk away with the boy to whom he had dedicated his life.

Ethan's body was found Tuesday buried in a shallow grave off a muddy trailhead near Powder Mountain ski resort. Layton police suspect his stepfather, Nathan Sloop, killed him and his mother, Stephanie Sloop, tried to cover it up.

"He was the best little boy that you'd ever meet; he really was. He was a very lovable child, and that's all he wanted, was to love on people all the time," Joe Stacy said through tears. "He was a great boy, and even if he was a bad boy, he didn't deserve this, nobody deserves this, but he was just a good, sweet boy."

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'I didn't have any choice' » Ethan's parents finalized their divorce April 28 in Florida, where they lived during their five-year marriage.

After signing the papers, Joe Stacy, 35, went to Virginia, his childhood home he had returned to in December. Ethan and Stephanie Stacy, 27, boarded a plane bound for Utah, where she had moved to after a brief stay in Las Vegas.

"I did not want him to go, and he didn't want to go at all. He kept telling me he didn't want to go," Stacy said. "I didn't have any choice, I had to send him. The type of person she was, had I kept him and didn't send him out there, she would have turned around and filed contempt of court charges against me."

But that doesn't make it any easier to grapple with the fact he won't be going to the park every day or playing Spider-Man on the PlayStation 3 with a boy who was "way, way ahead" of his peers and able to pick up on new skills after being shown just once.

Stacy had called his son every day since he came to Utah, and Stephanie Sloop often would call her ex-husband to complain about the boy's behavior, Stacy said. But starting May 5 -- the day charging documents say Nathan Sloop, 31, began abusing Ethan -- his ex-wife kept coming up with reasons the boy couldn't talk to his father. The last call Stacy made was Monday, when Nathan Sloop gave another reason why the boy couldn't talk to his father, Stacy said.

"I never did get a call back," he said.

--

Parting ways » Stacy said he wanted to keep Ethan away from his mother, whom he called a "pathological liar," but while the court made the oil-rig worker the custodial parent, it also granted summer visitation to Stephanie Sloop.

As part of their divorce, Stacy retained custody as long as he paid her half of a settlement from a pending injury lawsuit he had filed about 18 months ago.

"I would have given her all of it if it meant I was able to keep my son with me," he said.

In the months since their separation, Stacy said Nathan Sloop would send him text messages, some violent.

"I had been threatened over the past six months by him," Stacy said.

Freida Stacy, Ethan's grandmother, said Stephanie Sloop tried to "stir up trouble" several times for her stepson.

"The only reason she wanted [Ethan] was she thought, 'This is how I'm going to get back at Joe,'" Freida Stacy said. "It was like Ethan was just a pawn."

Nathan Sloop has a history of drug convictions and other crimes dating back to 2000. Most recently, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance in 2003.

Joe Stacy had met the man face-to-face only once, for about 30 minutes when Stacy flew to Utah to pick up a vehicle from his ex-wife.

"I had really mixed feelings about him," Stacy said. "I didn't know what to believe with him."

--

Newlyweds » The Sloops planned to wed July 4 in Colorado, according to their wedding website and gift registries, but instead they married Thursday at the Farmington Courthouse. The Sloops had met when they were both in their early teens, but they didn't really connect until October.

"Instead of provoking my Bad Boy side, she respects it," Nathan Sloop wrote on the site. "She doesn't try and provoke me to protect her, but rather she loves me in ways I couldn't even ask her to do."

Stephanie Sloop wrote of losing twins she was pregnant with in December, and that Nathan Sloop had saved her life twice during that time.

"Even though I lost the babies we planned to have, it saved my life," she wrote. "You can always have more children, but Nathan couldn't replace me."

Calls to the couple's family were not returned Wednesday.

--

Unraveling the ruse » Stephanie Sloop called police just before midnight Monday, saying her son had wandered off and she couldn't find him. More than 40 officers scoured the area around their apartment at 1425 N. 500 West in Layton before the couple's stories had enough discrepancies that they were brought in for further questioning. Eventually, Stephanie Sloop told investigators Ethan died Sunday. Soon after, they learned the location of a makeshift burial site near Powder Mountain, said Lt. Garret Atkin of the Layton Police Department.

Officers walked the trail, digging in the mud as snow and rain fell, and recovered Ethan's body about 5 p.m. Tuesday.

The Davis County Attorney's Office plans to announce charges against the couple Friday morning. Both are expected to face charges of child abuse, obstruction of justice and abuse or desecration of a human body. Nathan Sloop also may be charged with aggravated murder and damaging a jail.

The Medical Examiner's Office is performing an autopsy to determine Ethan Stacy's cause of death. After that, his body will be flown to Virginia for his funeral.

"They are going to send him back home and I'm getting his funeral arrangements ready here," his father said. "I know things are going to get even tougher when he comes home."

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_15074193?source=pkg

Florida judge: 'Sorry for loss' of Ethan

Custody » Arguments child would be in danger not heard in court.

By Sheena McFarland
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 05/13/2010 07:40:57 PM MDT

A Florida judge who oversaw the divorce proceedings between Joe and Stephanie Stacy -- including the custody rights involving their 4-year-old son, Ethan -- says she never heard arguments that the child would be in danger with his mother.

"Sometimes both parties come to court to get their agreement approved and to get the divorce decree that incorporates the marital agreement," Judge Maura T. Smith of the 9th Judicial Circuit Court of Florida said. "But there was no discussion about what was in the agreement other than some of the financial aspects, and usually these cases last less than 10 minutes."

In divorce papers filed last year, Ethan Stacy's father outlined his fears about leaving the 4-year-old boy with his mother.

"The mother has abandoned the child and I'm afraid the mother will come and take him and I'll never see him again," Joe Stacy wrote in an emergency petition for temporary custody of Ethan, calling her "unstable."

But his ex-wife did end up with visitation rights for the boy. And this week, police say, Stephanie Sloop's new husband, Nathan Sloop, beat the child to death while his mother attempted to cover up the crime.

However, the Stacys went through mediation to hash out the details of the divorce, including custody of Ethan. In it, they agreed that Joe Stacy would be the custodial parent while Stephanie Stacy would get the 4-year-old boy every summer, spring break and every other major holiday.

Neither parent had attorneys present, Smith said, and Joe Stacy said he felt like he had to make the concession in order to maintain custody of his son for the majority of the year, he said.

The divorce case is still open and under Smith's jurisdiction, she said, adding that many times divorced couples will amend their agreements as circumstances change.

"We're just very sorry for their loss," Smith said.

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_15079390?source=pkg

Thousands mourn Ethan Stacy's death

Crime » Well-wishers gather at memorial at apartments where 4-year-old was allegedly killed.

By Lindsay Whitehurst
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 05/15/2010 11:03:00 PM MDT

Layton > > Sherry Durst didn't know Ethan Stacy -- few in Utah did. But Saturday, she felt drawn to his memorial near the apartment where his short life brutally ended.

"I come out here every day, just to see," Durst, 44, of Syracuse, said. "You have to feel it. If you have a heart, you have to feel this."

Davis County prosecutors claim the 4-year-old boy died May 9 following four days of abuse by his stepfather and mother. He had recently arrived in Utah to spend the summer with his mother as part of a child custody agreement.

His death has struck a chord in thousands of people. By Saturday, three Facebook pages dedicated to his case had a combined total of nearly 32,000 fans. Davis

County attorneys have been flooded with e-mails offering both sympathy for Ethan's family and demanding swift justice for the crime.

The abuse started May 5, when 31-year-old Nathan Sloop dealt a brutal beating to the boy's head and face, according to police documents. Ethan's 27-year-old mother Stephanie Sloop did nothing to stop the beating, and might have had a substantial hand in the abuse, prosecutors said Friday. The couple married one day after the beating, locking the injured boy in a bedroom and going to the Davis County Memorial Courthouse.

Ethan got no medical attention and suffered further abuse, including burns to his feet and legs, before his death, police said. After he died, the couple allegedly disfigured his face and buried him near Powder Mountain ski resort. They reported him missing Monday, but their story unraveled about 12 hours later.

Both are now being held in the Davis County jail without bail. If prosecutors file anticipated aggravated murder charges against them later this month, they could both face the death penalty.

Several days after Ethan's death, strangers continue to pay their respects at a memorial a few feet from the apartment where he died.

They have left candles, flowers and handwritten letters along with dozens of stuffed animals and balloons. An elementary school group signed two large posters and pasted them next to pictures of the blond, bespectacled little boy. There are kites and water guns with the image of his favorite superhero, Spider-Man, and notes to Ethan's father, Joe Stacy, who lives in Virginia.

Hundreds gathered at the site Saturday night for a candlelight memorial.

Many mourners said they have never been so affected by a news story.

"There's a picture of him sitting in a pool, and he just looks completely vulnerable ... he was helpless," Chris Gagnier, 42, said through tears. "I just can't imagine laying hands on my child the way they did."

Courtney Fulmer, 20, heard about the crime from her boyfriend's parents. For her, it's a reminder that a tranquil city is not necessarily immune to shocking crime.

"We always think that we're kind of a safe haven, especially in Layton, but we're not," she said from behind the counter at the coffee shop The Daily Rise.

For others, Ethan's death is a call to action. Valleri Lyngle, general manager at the Iceberg ice cream shop in Syracuse, has been a foster parent to six children and adopted one boy who had been abused.

She is organizing a Teddy Bear Drive, slated for May 29, to collect stuffed animals for firefighters and police officers to give to children in traumatic situations.

"I really want people to stop and think about [Ethan's death]," she said. She hopes it increases awareness about child abuse. "People need to take action."

http://www.sltrib.com/D=g/ci_15094513

This is another sad case where a mother puts a man above the safety of her own child. When will it end?

I will never ever be able to understand how a woman could stand by and watch her child being beaten. It's just horrific, then she comes home and he's been scalded in hot water, my god, that poor child. This man is pure evil, and the mother is an ignorant POS, to say the least. I could just cry, my sincerest sympathy goes out to Ethan's father and the ones that loved him. BTW, there is another thread on Ethan in the Daily News section.

Thanks Piper. See what happens when I miss a couple days. I will merge the threads. I thought there might be a thread on this already, but it didn't come up when I did a search for Ethan Stacy. I should have known to go into advanced search and use the Google option instead of using the default search which only seems to work if the terms you are searching for are in the thread title.

J4A - Thanks for all the updated reports. This is such a horrific case, and I feel so bad for the bio Dad.

Mother of slain Utah boy may face murder charge

JENNIFER DOBNER, Associated Press Writers, PAUL FOY, Associated Press Writers
Published: 01:45 p.m., Friday, May 14, 2010

FARMINGTON, Utah (AP) — Prosecutors in Utah said Friday they may file murder charges against the mother of a 4-year-old boy whose body was found in a canyon earlier this week.

Searchers dug up Ethan Stacy's badly beaten and disfigured body Tuesday, about 10 days after he arrived in Utah for a summer visit with his mother, Stephanie Sloop, 27.

Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings said Sloop and her husband, Nathanael Sloop, 31, will likely be charged with aggravated murder in the boy's death. Before Friday, the possibility of murder charges had only been discussed for Nathanael Sloop.

"We're looking at aggravated murder — both defendants are suspects at this point," Rawlings said.

Police said Stephanie Sloop initially told officers her son had wandered away from her Layton apartment.

But probable cause statements said Nathanael Sloop acknowledged beating the boy for days before his death on Sunday and Stephanie Sloop did nothing to stop it. After the boy died, Nathanael Stoop used a hammer to disfigure the boy's face and teeth to keep him from being identified, then buried the body in a canyon, according to the documents.

The Sloops may also be charged with felony child abuse, obstruction of justice and desecration of a corpse, Rawlings said.

At a court hearing Friday, both separately agreed to waive their right to be bailed out of jail until at least their next court appearance on May 28.

Nathanael Sloop kept his head low and wept softly during his court appearance. Stephanie Sloop appeared withdrawn and showed no visible emotion during the twin hearings that together lasted less than 15 minutes.

Earlier, Nathanael Sloop's court-appointed attorney, Todd Utzinger, would not discuss specifics of the case or possible charges. He said he met with both Sloops Friday morning at the Davis County Jail and advised them to stop talking to detectives.

Attorney Julie George, who was appointed to represent Stephanie Sloop, said her client "is very emotional and having a difficult time."

Prosecutors are waiting to file charges because there is the potential for the death penalty.

"We're not going to file charges before all of our ducks are in a row and we're ready to go, but we intend to get there," Rawlings said.

The 2nd District Court hearing in Farmington drew about two dozen members of the advocacy group Bikers Against Child Abuse and many other people unconnected to the case.

"That boy didn't get mercy. They shouldn't get mercy," said August Teuscher, 32, a mother of four from Clinton, who stood in the courthouse holding a hand-drawn sign condemning the Sloops. "They should be tortured."

Public defenders for the Sloops said the couple had received hundreds of requests for visits from reporters and strangers while in jail. Judge David M. Connors signed an order prohibiting anyone from trying to visit the Sloops.

Utah State Courts records show that between 2000 and 2003, Nathanael Sloop had several convictions, including for criminal mischief, disorderly conduct and drug possession. No criminal history was found for Stephanie Sloop.

Ethan's biological father, Joe G. Stacy of Tazewell, Va., agreed to share custody of the boy on April 28 so he would spend the school year with his father and summers with his mother.

http://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Mother-of-slain-Utah-boy-may-face-murder-charge-488906.php#photo-2

Quote from Ethan's father:

"The mother has abandoned the child and I'm afraid the mother will come and take him and I'll never see him again," Joe Stacy wrote in an emergency petition for temporary custody of Ethan, calling her "unstable."

It's unfortunate the courts will not listen to the concerned parents in these cases. They have their dockets, apparently tired of the he said - she said and just move on.

snipped from above:

"I just wanted him to grow up where his daddy grew up, in a small town in the mountains," he said Wednesday from Virginia. "Where it was safe."

Friend says Ethan Stacy's mom 'completely changed'
Murder » 'Ripples of despair' have washed over friends of the Stacys in Georgia.

By Lindsay Whitehurst
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 05/17/2010 12:46:51 PM MDT



Amber Navarre Llewellyn can hardly recognize Stephanie Sloop, a woman she once knew as a friend.

"I knew her very well, and I never thought something like this would come from her. She doesn't even look like the same person I knew," said Llewellyn, of Fort Benning, Ga. "It kills me to look at pictures. I'm angry. I'm hurt. I'm heartbroken."

She spent barbecues and vacations with 4-year-old Ethan Stacy, and baby-sat him when he was an infant. On Thursday night, she heard the terrible news that Ethan was dead after four days of abuse by his mother, Stephanie, 27, and her new husband, Nathan Sloop, 31.

"I thought, 'This is fake, this is not for real,'" Llewellyn said. "I remember talking to her before she went and picked him up about how excited she was to get him."

When Llewellyn met Stephanie Sloop in 2005, she was pregnant with Ethan and married to Joe Stacy. Both of their husbands were stationed at Hunter Army Airfield outside Savannah, Ga. and they became close friends.

Ethan was a sweet, talkative boy, Llewellyn said, remembering how he made funny faces by pushing in the top and bottom of his ears.

"Ethan was very loving, he loved hugs, and he was a funny kid. He would make you laugh just being himself," she said. "He was always happy, and he loved his daddy."

Ethan's mother seemed to love him, too, she said.

"She took care of him. He loved her. I thought that he was her pride and joy, I really did," she said. "I never saw her spank Ethan, never saw her raise her voice at Ethan."

Still, Stephanie Stacy had another side. She could be vindictive when she felt wronged and always want more money, and was a "compulsive liar." Stephanie Sloop told her she planned on keeping Ethan "for good" after taking him back to Utah.

The Stacys moved from Georgia to Florida about a year and half ago, and she lost touch with Stephanie. Then, last year, Stephanie left Joe and Ethan and moved to Las Vegas, according to Llewellyn and divorce papers. In October, Stephanie reconnected with Nathan Sloop, with whom she had gone to high school, the couple wrote on a wedding page on theknot.com. The posting has since been removed.

Stephanie reconnected with Llewellyn on Facebook after Nathan and Stephanie got together.

"I think she completely changed when she got with Nathan," she said. They seemed "obsessed" with each other, she said. Stephanie often wrote online that she had found her soul mate, that her life was complete. They planned their wedding for July 4, and she had an expensive dress from Nathan's mother, Llewellyn said.

Then, on May 6, her relationship status on Facebook suddenly changed to "married," Llewellyn said.

According to police, Nathan and Stephanie Sloop went to the old Davis County Memorial Courthouse to wed the day after Nathan dealt Ethan a brutal beating. They locked him in a bedroom, according to arrest documents, so people would not see his injuries.

"The day she got married to Nathan, she put on her updated status 'married,' and something to the effect of being so happy she was finally Mrs. Nathan Sloop," Llewellyn said. "She seemed excited. In the midst of this, while I was writing 'congratulations,' he was in a bedroom dying. It just makes me sick to my stomach."

The Sloops allegedly disfigured the boy's face before burying him near Power Mountain ski resort. They reported him missing, but later admitted the location of his body, police said. Both are now being held without bail on suspicion of aggravated murder, and could face the death penalty.

The alleged crime has sent ripples of despair through the group who knew the family in Georgia, Llewellyn said. She finds herself thinking about Ethan and the abuse he suffered, and wishing Joe Stacy will find some kind of comfort for his loss.

She remembered a night she and her husband watched Ethan, just before she became pregnant with her own daughter.

"I remember my husband standing over the bassinet, because [Ethan] looked so sweet," she said. "I just wonder if I'll ever be able to go through a day without thinking about this."

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_15099438?source%253Dmost_viewed.20F88DA3D7D369F5BB70F372987EAE1F.html

Ethan Stacy to be buried Wednesday in Virginia

By Scott Sherman
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 05/17/2010 06:13:34 PM MDT

Joe Stacy will lay his 4-year-old son, Ethan, to rest Wednesday in the small mountain town where he wanted to boy to grow up.

Ethan will be buried in Richlands, Va., less than three weeks after he arrived in Utah to spend the summer with his mother, Stephanie Sloop, who along with her new husband is a suspect in the boy's death.

A public service will be Tuesday at the Grundy Funeral Home in Grundy, Va., with a funeral to follow Wednesday. He will be buried in Clinch Valley Memorial Cemetery in Richlands.

Ethan had been in Utah for one week when, police say, on May 5 Nathan Sloop severely beat the child on the head and face.

Nathan and Stephanie Sloop married at the old memorial courthouse in Farmington the day after the beating, leaving the boy locked in a bedroom without medical attention, according to a police probable cause statement. Investigators say Ethan was also badly burned by Nathan Sloop before his death four days later.

The Sloops allegedly disfigured his body and buried him off a trail near Powder Mountain Ski Resort, then reported him missing. Authorities say the couple admitted to the location of his body after a 12-hour search.

Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings said his office is waiting autopsy results and testing of other key evidence before filing charges against the Sloops.

Rawlings has urged the public "not to treat the probable cause statement like the Bible" because dozens of pieces of new evidence have since surfaced. The involvement of Ethan's mother, initially told police she was scared of her husband, could be enough to justify aggravated murder charges against her in addition to her husband, Rawlings said.

In Utah, aggravated murder charges can carry three penalties: the death penalty, life in prison without parole, or 25 years to life in prison with the option of parole. Prosecutors now have 60 days to decide which option to pursue.

Second District Court Judge David Connors on Friday ordered the couple held without bail until May 28, by which time charges should be filed.

http://www.sltrib.com/D=g/ci_15104195

Police staff find ways to cope with Ethan Stacy case

By Loretta Park (Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau)
Last Edit: May 17 2010 - 4:12pm

LAYTON -- One week ago, officers from Layton and Weber County dug up the body of 4-year-old Ethan Stacy.

Critical incident stress debriefing sessions will be held later this week to help officers, investigators, dispatchers and other police staff cope with what they saw and heard during the search and investigation, officials said.

Layton police Lt. Garret Atkin said the death of Ethan Stacy has been difficult on officers, dispatchers and the support staff at the department.

"We consider our police department as a family," Atkin said. "We went through this together and hopefully we will heal together."

Atkin said the debriefing sessions are not mandatory, but it helps to get together with peers to discuss what they are feeling.

Officers cannot or do not want to always discuss with family members what they have gone through in cases like Ethan Stacy's, Atkin said.

Cases involving children can be extra hard not only on officers but on dispatchers and support personnel who are behind the scenes and do not always know what is going on during the investigation, he said.

Dispatchers are the ones who receive the 911 calls of a missing child, Atkin said. Then, as the investigation goes on, they are the ones who handle the hundreds of calls from people who want to help or to complain.

"They also see the officers who come in and are struggling a little bit with what is going on," Atkin said.

Layton City, like other agencies, offer employee assistance, where an officer or other employee struggling with the incident can receive counseling one-on-one without a report going to city officials, he said.

Law enforcement "officers do not see the horrors of war, but they see a lot of cruelty imposed on humanity and it takes its toll," said Jack Rickards, director of the Weber State University Law Enforcement Academy.

Rickards said he knows military personnel go through a lot, but law enforcement does to and it is rarely recognized.

Public-trained safety personnel, communications officials, medical officials and mental health workers will be on hand during the debriefing sessions to help those involved discuss the feelings and emotions they are going through.

Weber County Sheriff's Capt. Klint Anderson said if officers do not get help they can become like a pressure cooker with emotions and images they do not know what to do with.

"Everyone copes differently, so we let them know it's OK to vent," Anderson said.

Also, officers keep an eye on each other in case someone is not coping well, officials said.

Davis County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Bob Yeaman said supervisors at the jail where Stephanie and Nathan Sloop are booked are watching corrections officers to make sure they are coping well.

The Sloops are accused of the murder of the 4-year-old boy. Formal charges have not been filed yet.

It's not the first time the jail has housed defendants accused of killing a child, he said.

The jail has two professionals from Davis Behavioral Health, Inc., on hand who talk, when requested, to deputies who are in charge of the Sloop case about what they are going through emotionally and mentally, Yeaman said.

Also, deputies who work in the jail are told during their briefing sessions, before their shift begins, to remember to be professional, Yeaman said.

"Sometimes it's hard to be professional, but we force ourselves to do it," Yeaman said. "We talk about thinking about what you're going to say and what you do before you do it. And, if you need guidance to talk to your supervisor, we'll get you help."

Officers receive basic training either at WSU's law enforcement academy or at the state's Police Officer Standards Training on how to cope with stress.

Staying physically fit is one way to cope with stress instead of grabbing "a fifth of Jack Daniels" said Lt. Wade Breur with POST.

Those going into law enforcement know they will see their share of mangled body and horrific crime scenes, but nothing really prepares them for reality, Breur said.

"So when you're stressed out, it's good to hit the gym," Breur said.

http://www.standard.net/topics/ethan-stacy/2010/05/17/police-staff-find-ways-cope-ethan-stacy-case

Coping with an ordeal such as this, a murdered child, would be extremely difficult. I would think LE would need support to deal with it. I honestly don't know how they can stay professional and keep from "accidentally" offing the Sloops, or at least beat the living daylights out of them.

'They need to pay for taking my son away,' Ethan Stacy's father says
Hometown mourns during service

By Pat Reavy
Deseret News
Published: Wednesday, May 19, 2010 1:05 a.m. MDT





GRUNDY, Va. — A town in mourning turned out Tuesday night to pay their respects to Ethan Stacy.

"It's a hard time. We loved little Ethan," said Marshall Osborne, a longtime friend of Ethan's father, Joe Stacy, and one of the pallbearers for Ethan's funeral.

A funeral service will be held this afternoon for Ethan, followed by a procession from the funeral home in Grundy, Va., to the Clinch Valley Memorial Cemetery in Richlands, Va., about 30 miles away.

Stacy was a man who looked in deep despair Tuesday over the tragic loss of his son. As he recalled fond memories of Ethan while wiping back tears, he also called for justice to be served.

"They need to pay for taking my son away," he said.

A church service was held Tuesday night for 4-year-old Ethan on the eve of his funeral. While hardly anyone in Utah knew Ethan in life, he has touched the lives of people in Utah and across the nation following his brutal death, allegedly at the hands of his mother, Stephanie Sloop, and her newlywed husband, Nathan Sloop.

The Sloops remained in the Davis County Jail on Tuesday, pending possible aggravated murder charges.

Story continues below:
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700033363/Ethans-dad-They-need-to-pay.html

Ethan Stacy Update: Family Says Last Goodbyes at 4-Year-Old's Funeral

May 21, 2010 8:34 AM
Posted by Edecio Martinez

RICHLANDS, Va. (CBS/AP) Ethan Stacy's father, Joe Stacy, family and friends said their last goodbyes at the 4-year-old's funeral Wednesday in southwest Virginia, reflecting on the good times and the good in people.

"I'm remembering all the good times," the mourning father said, without mentioning his son's violent death. "There were no bad times at all."

Read full post…
http://www.cbsnews.com/8300-504083_162-504083-1.html?tag=hdr%3bcnav

What a cute picture of Ethan in this article.

J4a, these videos are very touching and I couldn't help but cry when his Dad was talking. I have a question though, did ABC pay for these pictures and this interview? If they could give the Anthony's so much money, I certainly hope they gave this bereaved father just as much money as the Ants.

I remember reading they had a fund set up to help pay for his funeral, so I hope ABC gave money so the father doesn't have to worry about that expense. Did this interview actually take place the day of the funeral? Isn't that a little too soon?

Sitemama, I think the interview was the day of the funeral. It looks like it might have even been done in the funeral home. I believe his interview was with a local ABC station and not the national network. I would rather see him receive a payment than the Anthonys. Hopefully they at least helped him pay for the funeral.

That's what I was hoping too J4a. I too thought it may have been at the funeral home, because of the phone ringing and someone answered it real quick.

Formal Charges Filed in Ethan Stacy Homicide Case

Friday, May 28, 2010



Davis County Attorney's Office charges Nathan and Stephanie Sloop with aggravated murder, other charges.

As expected, the Davis County Attorney's Office today filed formal charges against the mother and step-father of Ethan Stacy.

Both Nathan and Stephanie Sloop face counts of aggravated murder, child abuse, desecration of a human body and obstruction of justice. Nathan also faces an additional count of damaging a jail. All of the charges are felonies.

Convictions on the aggravated murder counts could open the Sloops up to a death penalty punishment. By law, prosecutors have until 60 days after the Sloops are arraigned to announce their intent in regards to seeking the death penalty. Other potential sentences on the aggravated murder count include life without parole or 20 years to life in prison.

Nathan is also charged with a felony count of damaging a jail.

Probable cause statements filed with the charges reveal little new information about the case. They do say that Nathan and Stephanie engaged in criminal acts that "included beatings, burning, drugging, isolating, malnourishing, leaving the child alone and unattended while suffering, and refusing to seek vital life-sustaining medical attention."

Stephanie Sloop reported Ethan missing from her Layton apartment early the morning of May 11th. Later that afternoon, Layton Police and Weber County Sheriff's deputies found the four-year-old boy's body in a shallow grave near the Powder Mountain ski resort. Officers arrested Stephanie and her new husband Nathan that day, saying Nathan had spent days abusing his step-son.

http://www.971zht.com/cc-common/mainheadlines3.html?feed=171160&article=7175906

This case just makes me wanna

J4a, can you explain what Shelby's Law is and who it is named for?

Shelby's law is named after Shelby Andrews, a 10-year-old from Syracuse, Utah who died in 2006 as a result of horrific abuse from her father and stepmother.

On the night Shelby was killed, Ryan Andrews described pushing the child into a tiny space in a linen closet that forced her to stand upright, even though she cried out that she could not breathe and was gagging on vomit. He said in his confession that Angela Andrews told him to leave the girl in the closet because "Shelby was just trying to play me," so the couple continued to keep the girl locked up and watched TV together.

"When we later opened the door Shelby was dead, and her lifeless body fell to the floor," Ryan Andrews' confession said.

Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695229042,00.html

Authorities couldn't charge the couple with aggravated murder and seek the death penalty because they couldn't prove that Shelby's murder was intentional. That spurred lawmakers to add amendments to the law that broadened the scope of aggravated murder. This is known as Shelby's law.

Prosecutors can now get a special verdict if they can prove certain crimes such as child abuse, child rape or child kidnapping are committed with "reckless indifference to human life" and if they can prove the person was a major participant in the commission or attempted commission of those offenses that ended in the death of the victim.

Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700034120/Changes-wrought-by-Shelbys-Law.html

The amendments meant prosecutors would no longer have to prove that a killing was intentional to seek the death penalty if a child died during an act of abuse, sexual assault or kidnapping.

Source: http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_15142745

Thanks for the information, J4A. These poor children that suffer this horrific abuse just tears me up inside.

Thank you J4a, you are the best.

McEntee: A courthouse full of grief and anger

The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 05/28/2010 08:06:51 PM MDT

Much like everyone else in the packed courtroom, I went to court to see Nathan and Stephanie Sloop, who face aggravated murder charges in the death of 4-year-old Ethan Stacy.

Nathan, shackled and wearing red jail clothes, appeared first, grim-faced and clean-shaven. He answered a few mandatory questions, and turned his head to tell his mother he loved her before being led out.

Stephanie followed, her hair in a tidy bun, her jaws clenched as a few tears fell from her eyes. When she turned to leave, she too grew stone-faced. Former friends in Florida told one of my colleagues Stephanie could cry when she needed to.

Neither stayed long. The charges were filed Friday morning, and because of the possibility of a death sentence, the proceedings were continued until next week.

The homicide charges themselves are chilling and thorough. The aggravating circumstances include child abuse or child sexual abuse; desecration of a body, administration of a lethal substance in a deadly amount. Physical torture. Mutilation showing "actor's depravity of mind." A victim younger than 14.

The next three counts are child abuse, obstructing justice and abuse or desecration of a human body.

Ethan was beaten to death over several days. A photo that circulated on the Internet shows the boy with Nathan, playing video games, with what appears to be a large and livid bruise on his left jawline.

The couple, who were married during those days, brought along lighter fluid and a hammer to the place where they buried Ethan.

After the hearing, I walked out with the crowd, many of them members of Bikers Against Child Abuse. Others who came wore red T-shirts bearing the words, "Justice for Ethan." Others wore purple shirts saying "In loving memory of Shelby," meaning Shelby Andrews, who was beaten and abused to death by her stepmother and father.

I spoke briefly with Connie Turner, clad in stunning black leather motorcycle garb -- but not a part of BACA -- who came to court from Roy. She told me she baby-sits often, and has children, grandchildren and a couple of great-grandkids.

She said she " just wanted to get a look" at Nathan and Stephanie. "I don't know how people can be so cruel."

And, since the prosecution could seek the death penalty, I asked her what she thought of that.

"I have mixed emotions," Turner said. "But in this case, yes. We all have long memories of Shelby."

Tammy Russell came to the courthouse in Farmington from West Jordan with her 13-year-old daughter. She said she was drawn there by "Ethan's beautiful face," and to support him and his family.

"Ethan spoke to us the first time he was on the 10 o'clock news," Russell said.

So I asked her about the death penalty, too. She told me she also had mixed emotions, but in this case, it would be an eye for an eye. "I don't want to pay for them to eat and breathe."

And Russell brought up the possibility of an insanity defense by the couple, and how she felt about that.

"It's all an act," she said. "They knew exactly what they were doing, over and over, for four days."

There was true anger in that courtroom Friday, mixed with grief and a measure of despair. It's a story we hear all too often, and nothing will ever erase it from our collective memory.

All I can do is light a candle and think of Ethan, the funny little guy with such a sweet smile.

http://www.sltrib.com/utah/ci_15185723

I just don't understand the mind set of these people who neglect and abuse their children...Surely they don't derive pleasure from it, or do they???

You know, I think people just don't see lots of things going on around them today like we used to. I don't think there is such a thing as a neighbor. Back when I was in my late twenties, and had 4 children already, I knew or knew of all my neighbors. There was one family, a dad, mom and 3 kids. The dad worked at night, and the mom would have a male visitor around 8 pm and she always locked her kids out of the house.

They always came to my house to play with my kids. Around 9, I would tell them it was time to go home as my kids had to get ready for bed. The oldest boy, around 8 y/o said they couldn't go home as they couldn't get in the house until 'that car is gone'. I asked who it was and he didn't know.

I immediately called the police and they were there within 15 minutes. When they left my house, they took the kids home, knocked on the door and the mom, thinking it was the kids, screamed out for them to go away. When the cops identified themselves, mom opened the door with nothing on but a robe. She was charged with child neglect, and both adults were taken off to jail, and the kids were placed with a foster home.

Sometimes, I think, people just don't want to get involved. But I will everytime I see a child in danger.

I'll never understand the mindset of people who abuse, neglect, or kill children. Sitemama, I'm glad you did the right thing and got involved. A child's safety comes way ahead of minding your own business and staying out of it. There is no reason children should be locked out of their own house at 9 pm. Their mom locking them out so she could commit adultery with her boyfriend while her husband was at work is reprehensible.

Nathan and Stephanie Sloop: Volatile souls long tempting tragedy
Charged with murder » Pair on the path to trouble long before Ethan Stacy's death, many say.

By Kristen Moulton And Sheena McFarland | The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated:05/30/2010 05:00:07 PM MDT

Orlando, Fla. » Stephanie Stacy and Nathan Sloop saw themselves as soul mates, inscribing the invitations to their July 4 wedding with a quote from Aristotle: "Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies."

That verse now chills former friends, neighbors and family of the couple, who connected last year in cyberspace.

For when two volatile, unraveling souls unite, there is no voice of reason.

It's just a matter of time before someone gets hurt.

From the combustible union of Stephanie and Nathan, that someone was Ethan Stacy, her towheaded 4-year-old, a spunky, skinny boy with glasses who arrived in Utah for a summer visit at the end of April.

Within two weeks, his mother reported Ethan missing from the Layton apartment they shared with Nathan. Ensnared by their conflicting stories the next day, police say, the couple admitted killing Ethan and led officers to his body, buried off a trail near Powder Mountain Ski Resort.

Stephanie told police the beatings began May 5, and said the next day they locked the battered boy in his room while she and Nathan went to the old memorial courthouse in Farmington to get married.

After Ethan died, the new Mrs. Sloop went to nearby stores for provisions to conceal his death: lighter fluid for Ethan; slushy drinks for Stephanie and Nathan.

They chose not to burn his body, instead taking a hammer to Ethan's face to make him less recognizable.

As Stephanie tells it, they buried him on Mother's Day, a fine spring day.

--

A perfect storm »Stephanie, 27, and Nathan, 31, had been together just seven months when they were arrested May 11 in Ethan's death.

On Friday, they were charged with aggravated murder, child abuse, obstructing justice and abuse or desecration of a human body. Under those charges, the prosecutor could seek the death penalty.

It's difficult to find people who will speak up for Stephanie and Nathan; most former friends and neighbors already at odds with the pair are even more angry; their parents declined interview requests.

Others, however, describe the two as the worst possible combination: An impatient, narcissistic mother indifferent to her only child, and an unstable, violent man increasingly desperate over limited access to his own 6-year-old daughter, who lives in Florida with his ex-wife.

Michelle Rodriguez of Mount Carmel, Ill. -- an ex-wife of Ethan's dad, Joe Stacy -- says a couple of months ago she phoned Stephanie to tell her to stop calling. When Nathan answered, she warned him that he should never let Stephanie near his daughter.

But Rodriguez had no idea the child in danger would be Ethan, the little boy she often took for weekends and even longer vacations to Los Angeles and New Jersey with her own children, 14-year-old Destrian Stacy and 11-year-old Alisa Stacy, Ethan's half-brother and half-sister.

Nathan "blew up" when Rodriguez suggested Stephanie was unfit.

"I said, 'The two of you are just alike,'" recalls Rodriguez. "He sounded like a controlling freak. ... He called her 'my woman.'"

--

The center of attention »Stephanie Croft was born in Michigan but raised in the Orlando area by her mother. She rarely saw her father -- described as "a rolling stone" -- and met her older half-brother only three years ago when she tracked him down in Michigan. She also has a teenaged half-brother in Michigan.

Stephanie's former friends say she has always been difficult. As a teenager, she would sneak out at night with boys. She once brought a physical abuse charge against her stepfather, a false accusation, according to an ex-friend. The charge was dismissed.

Joe, her ex-husband, says Stephanie's mother once told him she had been diagnosed at age 13 with borderline personality disorder, a diagnosis Joe rejects. "It ain't no disorder. It's just the way she is."

She often bragged that her purse was a pharmacy, say former friends.

"She had a lot of prescription pills from doctors," says Joe. "She'd always know just what to tell them."

She played junior varsity softball her senior year at Edgewater High School in Orlando and graduated in 2001.

Stephanie enlisted in the Air Force, but was other-than-honorably discharged during basic training, says Joe.

After a brief early marriage, Stephanie met Joe in Orlando via a mutual friend and married when she was 21.

Except for the three years the family lived in Savannah, Ga., when Joe finished a stint in the Army, the Stacy family lived near Orlando.

Over the years, Stephanie sometimes worked as a dancer at strip clubs in Cocoa Beach and Daytona Beach, according to friends. She also dabbled in modeling from a young age, she says on her Model Mayhem website.

She claims to have been a Bud Girl and a Jager Girl in bar promotions, and was trying to get into the "Playboy Hot Housewives" special edition last year. But whether that was a real possibility is up for debate.

"She is a pathological liar," says Carla Jones, a former friend.

Rodriguez, the mother of Joe's two older children, had a ringside seat for the drama that surrounded Stephanie. Her children lived with Joe and Stephanie for four years; a flight attendant, Rodriguez visited often.

Stephanie pulled all kinds of shenanigans to try to make Rodriguez's life miserable, she says. She tried to get her fired, falsely accused her of neglect and bad parenting in custody court and with child services; and cracked into her employee account at Continental Airlines, as well as her MySpace, Facebook and eBay accounts.

"Stephanie is not a stupid woman. She's very clever," says Rodriguez. "She always seemed to cover her tracks."

Stephanie insisted Destrian and Alisa call her "mom" and their real mom by her first name, says Rodriguez. She monitored the few phone conversations she allowed between Rodriguez and her children.

"She always had to be Number One," says Joe. "She was so narcissistic."

Rodriguez says she didn't know, until much later, how much her children disliked their stepmom.

Destrian says Stephanie expected him to take care of baby Ethan from the start. Their father was often gone for two weeks at a time, working as a roustabout on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. "She really never changed his diapers," says Destrian.

Stephanie would spank Destrian and Alisa with a metal spatula, and whack the backs of their heads with the back of her diamond-ringed hand, the siblings say.

"We felt we were back in the slave days," says Alisa. "She used to make us make her alcohol drinks, clean the pool, clean the bathroom until it was spotless white."

Alisa went to friends' houses rather than invite them to her own. "I was afraid she would yell at me in front of my friends," says Alisa. "She yelled for stupid reasons.

"She threatened my dad so much it got me mad."

When a relative gave Destrian and Alisa laptops for Christmas, Stephanie sold them, says Rodriguez. When their mother sent clothes, Stephanie threw them away. When she sent cash, the kids got empty envelopes.

Stephanie wanted people to think of her as the perfect mother, Joe says. "But behind closed doors, it was a whole different story."

"I tried to get her to be more of a mother," he says. "But she was not cut out to be a mother....She just is a person with no patience."

After Joe slipped on an oil rig in late 2008, a fall that required surgery to insert two titanium rods in his neck, things got rocky, he says.

Stephanie began commuting to Las Vegas to dance at a strip club, and eventually moved there in late spring 2009.

Joe intended to move the family to Las Vegas in August, but Rodriguez fought the move because she could not easily fly in and out to see her children.

In August, there was an especially ugly fight in which Stephanie accused Joe of choking her and for which he spent a few hours in jail, though charges were never filed. Joe returned to Orlando with Ethan, and late last year to his home state of Virginia. Destrian and Alisa went to live with their mother in Illinois.

Joe filed for divorce in October, and in a motion for temporary custody in November he said Stephanie had abandoned Ethan and was "unstable," and that he feared she would take Ethan and never return him.

By February, though, Stephanie's badgering and threats wore him down and he agreed to a divorce settlement that allowed Stephanie to have Ethan each spring break and summer. They were to alternate holidays. She was to pay no child support.

Joe also agreed to give her half of the money he expected from a lawsuit settlement for his injury. If he gets nothing, the agreement said, Stephanie gains custody of Ethan.

"She said, 'I sold my son,'" says Jones, recalling a phone conversation with Stephanie this spring.

"The only reason she wanted Ethan for the summer was because she knew Joe didn't want her to have him," Jones says.

The divorce was final on April 28 in Orlando, the same day Stephanie flew back to Utah with Ethan for the summer.

Ethan, Joe says, "was a pawn; someone she could use to get what she wanted."

"Stephanie is the kind of person," says Rodriguez, "who could spit on the ground and drown her own mother and not think twice about it."

--

A loose cannon »Nathanael Warren Sloop was raised in a tight-knit Orlando family. His father, Warren Sloop, often coached his and his brother's teams.

Nathan was a standout lacrosse player, a top scorer his senior year at Cypress Creek High School, which today has nearly 3,500 students.

The Rev. Jim Henry was their pastor at First Baptist Church, a mega-church in Orlando, but is now retired. He remembers that the Sloops would wait in line after Sunday services to greet him at a reception.

"They were very positive, encouraging people," he says, recalling that Nathan's brother, a high school baseball star, once gave him an autographed bat.

"Their family seemed to be close-knit. They loved their boys. They were just the kind of people you wish you had a church full of."

His recalls Nathan as "clean-cut and sharp."

Nathan graduated from Cypress Creek in 1997, and it wasn't long before his parents and brother were in the insurance business in Utah's Davis County.

Nathan, too, got his Utah license to sell property and casualty insurance in early 1999, adding other lines later that year.

He and Jennifer Freeman, from the old Florida neighborhood, were married in October, just weeks before his father died at age 46.

Although Nathan would later claim during their divorce that he had sold insurance for nine years in Utah and was licensed to teach insurance classes, he never renewed his license after it lapsed in 2001.

The couple bought a home in Roy, where they lived when their daughter was born in May 2004.

Even before that, Nathan was evidently having drug and mental health issues.

He was charged in several cases with drug possession in 2002 and 2003, and ultimately spent a month in the Weber County Jail, was on probation for 18 months and paid a $500 fine. He was also required to get mental-health and substance-abuse counseling.

But in 2009, he was charged with trespassing at Walgreen's because he had already filled prescriptions for Percocet from three different doctors in a week and was trying to fill a fourth. When the pharmacist refused, he became belligerent and threatening. The pharmacist called the police.

Former neighbors describe him as volatile and moody.

"One minute he'd be a good guy and then he'd just as soon want to whip you," says Don Fernelius, who lives across the street from Nathan's house.

Nathan would never get his hands dirty doing home maintenance, says Fernelius, adding that Roy City twice had to order him to cut his grass last year.

Rheta Phillips, a 70-year-old neighbor, recalls a series of encounters -- some violent -- with Nathan.

Once, Nathan screamed at her for making the four dogs in his basement -- a Great Dane, an English bulldog and two pitbulls -- bark by knocking on his back door.

Another time, he threw all of his wife's clothes and shoes onto the driveway and was screaming that he wanted her out of the house.

A confrontation in December 2008 was the most violent. It began when Nathan's dogs jumped on one of Phillips' relative's new car. Nathan went on to punch her grandson, and he swung a knife at her 47-year-old son so close it cut his shirt.

"He called me an [expletive] bitch," recalls Phillips. "I'm 70 years old. I'd heard this term before, but not right in my face, and I'm wondering 'What the hell's wrong with you?'"

Nathan is, by all accounts, fiercely attached to his daughter. He proudly shows her picture to people he meets, and once told Phillips about blowing his top and striking out at his father-in-law and new stepdad.

His daughter, then a baby, had fallen down a step after a holiday meal. Nathan accused the others of not watching her closely enough.

His mother, Phillips says, promised he'd get mental help after that incident.

In 2006, he got into a fistfight with a former friend outside a Roy store because nine months earlier the man had verbally threatened Sloop's daughter when he and Nathan got into a fight, Nathan told police.

Jennifer left Nathan in 2007, claiming she and their daughter were going to Florida for a visit.

In the divorce, finalized the next year, she accused Nathan of abusing her by punching her and pulling her hair. He had been diagnosed, she wrote, with multiple-personality disorder, a claim Nathan rejected. He wrote in court papers that he had obsessive compulsive disorder.

As part of their settlement, Nathan was to get his daughter each summer, spring vacation and alternate holidays.

But then, in a series of profanity-laced and threatening phone calls in September, he berated Jennifer for going on vacation the same week their daughter started school. That tirade led a judge to order him in March to have no contact with his ex-wife for two years. He was allowed only phone contact with his daughter, and no more web-cam sessions, in which each party can see the other as they converse via the Internet.

Only his mother, Pamela Sloop Taylor, was allowed to collect his daughter for her summer visit.

In February, Jennifer told a judge Nathan was more than $11,000 behind in child support and had never paid her $15,000 for her share of the Roy house.

--

The fantasy unravels »To ex-friends who talked or exchanged e-mails with Stephanie and Nathan in recent months and who visited social networking websites where Stephanie posted, it appeared the two were living in a fantasy world.

They hooked up shortly after meeting on Facebook -- Stephanie knew his ex-sister-in-law in middle school -- and almost immediately were engaged to be married.

Myriad pictures of the happy couple were posted, including on The Knot, a site for betrothed couples.

Stephanie talked of Nathan as her soul mate and began discussing a big wedding at a relative's Golden, Colo., home on the Fourth of July. They were registered at Bed, Bath & Beyond and Macy's.

By spring, she was alternately begging former friends to be bridesmaids or acting as if they'd already agreed to be.

Carla Jones, her friend in Orlando, has a note she received from Stephanie in April prescribing a mid-calf black dress, gray snakeskin heels as her bridesmaids' attire. The note told Jones to arrive in Colorado on July 3 and that she and Nathan were leaving for Seattle on July 6, presumably for a honeymoon.

It ended with a sentence Jones now finds jarring: "Ethan will be there."

"I never even said I would go to her wedding!" says Jones.

Rodriguez says she ordered Stephanie to stop e-mailing her about the wedding in March.

Neighbors say Nathan and Stephanie stayed in his Roy home until about the time Ethan arrived, when the sewer backed up. That's evidently when they moved to the Layton apartment where Ethan died.

In a call to her half-brother in Michigan on May 5, Stephanie explained they were getting married in Utah the next day so they could qualify for public aid, but that the "real" wedding was still on for July Fourth in Colorado.

The next day and the next, she left increasingly frantic phone messages for Jones, saying she couldn't handle Ethan.

Destrian and Alisa say they wrote letters to Stephanie in jail, although they didn't immediately mail them.

"I hate you because you killed your own son and my brother," Alisa wrote.

Destrian says he, too, expressed his anger.

He wants his former stepmother punished to the fullest.

"I hope she gets the death penalty."

http://www.sltrib.com/ci_15190371

Nathan and Stephanie Sloop still searching for qualified attorneys for potential death penalty case

Couple is charged with killing 4-year-old Ethan Stacy

By Pat Reavy
Deseret News
Published: Friday, June 4, 2010 3:39 p.m. MDT

FARMINGTON — Saying "the process is not yet complete," attorneys for the couple accused of killing 4-year-old Ethan Stacy asked a judge Friday for more time to find new attorneys to represent them in the potential death penalty case.

Stephanie and Nathan Sloop appeared separately before 2nd District Judge David Connors, each standing before the judge for only a minute. Stephanie appeared first, wearing a red Davis County Jail jumpsuit, her blond hair pulled back into a ponytail. Sloop seemed more composed than in previous appearances and did not cry Friday.

Nathan Sloop, wearing a cross around his neck along with his red jumpsuit, began looking around the courtroom when he reached the podium, as he has done in previous hearings, apparently looking for his mother. A court bailiff appeared to tell him to look forward at the judge. Sloop spotted his mother while being led out of the room and mouthed the words, "I love you," as he has in his previous hearing.

Pam Sloop, Nathan's mother, wiped away tears as she left the courtroom.

The Sloops are charged with capital murder, child abuse, obstructing justice and abuse or desecration of a body. Nathan Sloop, 31, faces an additional charge of damaging a jail.

Although prosecutors have not said officially whether they intend to seek the death penalty, Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings has said the case is headed in that direction.
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Prosecutors say Ethan was subjected to "beatings, burning, drugging, isolating, malnourishing" and was left alone and unattended while suffering from his injuries. In addition, the Sloops refused "to seek vital life-sustaining medical attention" for Ethan, according to the charges.

Only a limited number of attorneys in Utah are qualified to handle death penalty cases. To be eligible to work on a capital murder case, attorneys must meet a number of requirements. They must have taken six felony cases to a verdict within the past four years, at least one of the two appointed attorneys must have worked on a capital or a felony homicide case that went before a jury and ended in a verdict and they must complete or teach a legal class dealing with the trial of death penalty cases. They must also have at least five years experience practicing law.

As of Friday, the Sloops' current attorneys said the effort to find a person to take their cases was still ongoing.

The atmosphere at the Farmington courthouse was much less of a circus than in previous hearings. The courtroom was not filled with members of the public as in earlier appearances.

About a dozen members of Bikers Against Child Abuse were present.

"We're committed to making sure Ethan has a voice in all this," said BACA member Ish.

Ish said the delays and continuances in child abuse cases are frustrating, but his group has become accustomed to them.

"I'm not a fan of it, but it's something you have to do," he said. "Eventually Ethan will have his justice."

Outside the courthouse, at least one vehicle had "We Love U Ethan" and "Justice 4 Ethan" drawn on the windows by supporters who came to the hearing.

Contributing: Emiley Morgan

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700037750/Nathan-and-Stephanie-Sloop-still-searching-for-qualified-attorneys-for-potential-death-penalty-case.html

Sloop attorneys appointed / Hearing Monday for Nathanael, June 18 for Stephanie

By Loretta Park (Standard-Examiner Davis Bureau)
Last Edit: Jun 11 2010 - 12:05am

FARMINGTON -- Judge Thomas L. Kay has appointed two attorneys to defend Stephanie and Nathanael Sloop.

The orders were filed in 2nd District Court on Thursday. Court hearings for the Sloops, which were scheduled for today, have been canceled.

Kay appointed Richard P. Mauro to defend Nathanael Sloop and Mary Corporon to defend Stephanie Sloop.

A hearing for Nathanael Sloop is set for 1:30 p.m. Monday before 2nd District Court Judge Michael Allphin in Farmington. Stephanie Sloop is to appear before Allphin at 1:30 p.m. June 18.

The Sloops are both charged with aggravated murder, second-degree felony child abuse, second-degree felony obstruction of justice and third-degree felony abuse or desecration of a body in connection with the death of 4-year-old Ethan Stacy.

Nathanael Sloop has also been charged with third-degree felony damaging of a jail.

Ethan Stacy's body was found buried near Powder Mountain on May 11. Ethan had come to Utah on May 1 to spend the summer with his mother, Stephanie Sloop, and his stepfather, Nathanael Sloop, following a divorce settlement.

Both Sloops could receive the death penalty if they are convicted of the aggravated murder charges.

Both are accused of abusing Ethan for days in their Layton apartment before he died May 9, which was Mother's Day.

The next day, the couple took the child's body to a wooded area near Powder Mountain, desecrated it and buried it, according to court documents.

They then called Layton police to report that the boy had wandered off.

http://www.standard.net/topics/courts/2010/06/10/sloop-attorneys-appointed-hearing-monday-nathanael-june-18-stephanie

Sloops make first appearance with newly appointed attorneys

by Melinda Williams
Jun 17, 2010



FARMINGTON — Nathan and Stephanie Sloop each stood in front of Judge Michael G. Allphin with their newly-appointed attorneys for the first time at a Tuesday hearing.

The pair, charged with aggravated murder in the death of Stephanie’s 4-year-old son Ethan Stacy last month, were appointed Rule 8-qualified attorneys, that is attorneys able to handle a death penalty case, should it come to that. However, both lead attorneys must still select co-counsel.

Nathan, 31, will be represented by Richard Mauro. Mauro has worked on two death penalty cases, Ralph Menzies and Von Taylor.

Stephanie, 27, will be represented by Mary Corporon, who also worked on the Menzies case.

Both attorneys said they will need to go over the information in the case before the next hearing, set for July 14.

On Tuesday, Nathan Sloop was led into court first, at one point looking around the courtroom. He has made a habit of locating his mother and mouthing “I love you,” to her as he leaves the courtroom. Tuesday was no different.

Stephanie appeared next. After the hearing, she quickly turned to leave, but was stopped by a bailiff who needed her to sign some papers.

Following the hearing Mauro spoke briefly to members of the media. He reiterated that his client is innocent until proven guilty. He said there is a process which must be followed in the case which he hoped would be followed, “and I believe it will be.”

The aggravated murder charge the two face could result in 25 years to life with the possibility of parole, life in prison without parole, or the death sentence. While prosecutor Troy Rawlings has not yet decided whether to pursue a death sentence, the couples’ attorneys are qualified to handle their cases.

The couple is accused of killing Ethan and burying his body near Powder Mountain in Ogden Canyon, after about a week of abuse, investigators said.

Stephanie reported the boy missing, saying he had a habit of wandering off, and an endangered person alert was issued.

However, after several hours of searching and questioning the couple, investigators said they found inconsistencies in their stories, leading to their arrest.

Both Nathan and Stephanie are charged with aggravated murder, child abuse and obstructing justice, as well as abuse or desecration of a body.

While the crowds attending the hearings have dwindled, eight members of Bikers Against Child Abuse were at the hearing, along with a few others. Two women were passing out plastic wristbands in support of Ethan.

http://www.clippertoday.com/view/full_story/7966580/article-Sloops-make-first-appearance-with-newly-appointed-attorneys

This bothers me on a level that I just can't put into words. I can relate to Ethan's father more than I care to think about...

Did any of you catch this statement made by Stephanie after she supposedly lost her twins in December - that she could always have more babies - like eh, oh well - and then basically says at least I have my man... I think that is a picture into the deepest part of her soul - that her children are expendable... like her ex husband says repeatedly, she used Ethan as a pawn to get what she wanted from her ex.

You'll remember in the Haleigh Cummings case that many speculated that Ron and Misty might have gotten married so their testimony would be protected in a court of law, meaning that they could not be forced to testify against each other - and I'm wondering if any of you know in UT if they have a law similar to that? I'm thinking that is why this evil couple ended up marrying so much sooner than planned and before they actually killed him - I full well believe that they both knew that they would never send the child back home to his father after what they had done - because he would of course tell on them. So I'm wondering if they will find that this was premeditated? They refused to let his father speak with him - at which point he probably should have called in for a well-check visit from LE - but I bet he didnt' think about that.

Another thing - when will judges LISTEN to well meaning parents who truly complain that their child is at risk??? I know there are some that would intentionally lie to get revenge on the other parent - but gracious - this is TWICE just recently that this has happened!! Remember Debra Jeter - her husband had a restraining order in place against her but then a judge came in and ordered a visitation - that very first visitation - she slit her girls throats - one died, and the other one almost did. That was just a few miles from my home. And I KNOW it's happened more than twice - but my question is WHEN - WHEN are the judges going to listen - they are THE last stop to keep these situations from happening!

Woman Charged in Son's Death Seeks Annulment

June 27, 2010

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A woman charged in the death and mutilation of her 4-year-old son is seeking an annulment from her new husband. Stephanie Sloop, 27, filed the annulment petition Friday in Farmington's 2nd District Court. She married Nathanael Sloop on May 6 - five days before her son Ethan Stacy's disfigured body was discovered by police buried on a northern Utah mountainside. She claimed in the court papers that the marriage "was not voluntary, and was the result or product of physical duress by" the 31-year-old Sloop. Nathanael Sloop could fight the petition, which does not detail how he may have coerced his bride. Mary Corporon, Stephanie Sloop's defense attorney, declined to comment on the annulment petition.

A wedding website said the couple had been engaged for several months and had planned an Independence Day marriage ceremony at a relative's home in Golden, Colo. But in a call to her half-brother on May 5, Stephanie Sloop said she and Nathanael Sloop would marry in Utah the next day so that they could qualify for public aid. The couple was married at Farmington's old memorial courthouse. Police say the Sloops left Ethan Stacy alone and locked inside a bedroom in their Layton apartment during the ceremony.

On May 10, Stephanie Sloop reported the boy missing to police. A search was called off within hours after the story the Sloops had told police began to change during questioning. The Sloops face charges of aggravated murder and other felonies related to the boy's death. Prosecutors have not said whether they will seek the death penalty. The couple remained held without bail in the Davis County jail. Stephanie Sloop's annulment petition also asks that her name be changed to a previous surname. No specific surname is indicated, but she formerly used the name Stephanie Stacy. Ethan Stacy's father, Joe Stacy, of Richlands, Va., said Friday that he did not want his ex-wife using his surname.

http://connect2utah.com/news-story?nxd_id=96425

That B!otch wouldn't use my surname either?????

Ethan would still be with his father, alive and well, if it weren't for her.

Accused child killers get more defense attorneys

July 14, 2010





A judge on Wednesday appointed additional attorneys to represent Nathan and Stephanie Sloop.

Lawyers Scott C. Williams and Heather Harris will assist Richard Mauro in defending Nathan Sloop. Attorney Mark Flores will assist Stephanie Sloop’s lawyer, Mary Corporon.

The Sloops each are facing aggravated murder charges for the early May beating death of Stephanie Sloop’s 4-year-old son, Ethan Stacy. The two could each face the death penalty.

The Sloops were scheduled to appear back in 2nd District Court on Sept. 10. Nathan Sloop could be heard yelling “I love you Stephanie” in the holding area just before his court appearance.

Sheena McFarland

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/49928241-76/sloop-stephanie-nathan-assist.html.csp

They sure do have her looking alot younger than her age w/ her hair pulled back and curled like a pig's tail...