Sister of slain Utah woman powerful anti-death penalty voice

By KATIE McKELLAR
The Deseret News

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The sister of a woman brutally killed in one of Utah’s most notorious murder cases in 1996 has become one of the state’s most powerful voices against the death penalty. And The Deseret News reports she has some allies on Utah’s Capitol Hill, including a pair of influential conservative Republicans. She knows what happens to families of victims in the years — decades — after a convicted killer is sentenced to die. That’s why she said she wants to give a “gift” to other future victims’ families by taking the death penalty off the table. The legislation would give prosecutors a new bargaining chip: a sentence of 45 years to life in prison.