Brad Compher to stand trial for 2004 murder

A judge ruled Thursday afternoon that Brad Compher would stand trial for first degree murder in the 2004 stabbing death of Nori Jones.

The ruling came around 4:30 p.m. on the fourth day of Compher’s preliminary hearing. The judge said prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence to show Compher may be guilty.

During Thursday’s hearing, the court heard testimony from a private Salt Lake City forensics lab retained by Pocatello police detectives and producers from the TNT show ‘Cold Justice.’

A representative for the lab testified that he found matching DNA between a saliva swab investigators obtained from Compher while he was in custody and DNA collected from Jones’ home. The lab also found the same link between the saliva swab and items included in Jones’ sexual assault kit.

Compher’s attorney’s had sought to block the lab’s report concerning the sexual assault kit and the saliva swab, but were overruled. They asserted that the proper chain of custody might not have been followed when obtaining this evidence.

After Thursday’s hearing, a prosecutor in the case told Local News 8 they could bring new evidence and witnesses to trial that weren’t introduced during the preliminary hearing. He said it could take some time before a trial date is set.

“It probably won’t be set like a normal felony case because it is a cold case and because it is — there’s just a lot of forensic evidence, so it takes a lot of time to prepare that,” said prosecutor Zach Parris.

Parris said he and fellow prosecutors may still seek the death penalty if Compher is convicted. He declined to speculate as to what Compher’s defense might be. Public defenders representing Compher declined to comment.

Before Compher stands trial, he’ll appear in court again for an arraignment. That arraignment date has not yet been set.