Naman Shrestha
Investigation Discovery’s ‘How Not To Get Rid Of A Body: Needles in a Mineshaft’ delves deep into the 2017 double homicide of Brelynne “Breezy” Otteson and Riley Powell in Utah. During the investigation, the detectives searched for the victims’ missing bodies and the perpetrator/s responsible for the gruesome crime. The episode also features exclusive interviews with the family and friends of the victims, detailing various aspects of the crime and the impact it had on their lives.
Remains of Brelynne “Breezy” Otteson and Riley Powell Were Found Months After Their Disappearance
On January 27, 2000, Nannette Jena Baird and Kenny Otteson welcomed Brelynne Marie “Breezy” Otteson into their lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. Raised amidst four sisters — Kylysta Otteson, Jordyn Hamby, Madison Otteson, and Anisty Shoemaker — and a brother named Kennin, Breezy was close to her family and friends. During her free time, she could be seen indulging in different kinds of activities, such as partying, playing baseball, swimming, listening to music, doing gymnastics, and spending time with her family. Her larger-than-life personality caught the eye of Riley Lee Powell, son of William “Bill” Powell and Linda Powell. Born on April 28, 1999, in Provo, Utah, Riley was accompanied by two sisters, Nikka and Jewel, as he grew up in a loving and caring household.
Being an outdoors person like Breezy, he was also into sports and other activities like basketball, dragster racing, off-roading in his father’s Jeep, and many more. Having a big heart meant Riley enjoyed spreading positivity and joy with his cheerful presence. He also excelled on the academic front as he graduated from North Sanpete High School. Apart from his family and pets, Riley also cherished and loved his girlfriend, Breezy. The two had fallen head over heels in love with each other at quite a young age and were looking forward to years of togetherness. Little did they know that fate had other ideas for them. A few days after celebrating Christmas 2017 with their loved ones, on December 29, the couple went missing.
After waiting for a few days in hope for their return, their loved ones grew concerned and reported them missing on January 2, 2018. As an extensive search for them was launched, the authorities came across Riley’s Jeep with two flat tires, a mile south of Cherry Creek Reservoir. Despite searching for the teens for several weeks and months, the authorities could not seem to locate them or their remains. However, their search led them to an abandoned mine shaft in Utah’s west desert, where they found the remains of 17-year-old Breezy and 18-year-old Riley on March 28, 2018. Per reports, the two were bound and stabbed multiple times by the perpetrator/s.While Breezy had a slash across her neck, the cause of Riley’s death was multiple stab wounds. The autopsy result also suggested that they suffered blunt force trauma, which was likely due to falling 100 feet down in the mine shaft.
Brelynne “Breezy” Otteson and Riley Powell Were Killed During a Visit to a Friend’s Place
Right after the young couple disappeared and reported missing, an investigation was launched. Upon interviewing their family and friends, the detectives learned that Breezy and Riley had plans to visit the house of their mutual friends — Morgan Lewis Henderson and Jerrod Baum — on the night of their disappearance. So, the investigators visited them and questioned them about the missing teens’ whereabouts. However, they claimed that they didn’t know anything about them as they never showed up at their house on the night of December 29. When the police pressed Morgan in another interview on January 25, 2018, she admitted that the couple did visit them but claimed that she had no clue where they went afterward or what happened to them.
A couple of months later, on March 25, Morgan was arrested for unrelated traffic and drug charges. Taken over by a sense of immense grief, she ended up cooperating with the police. She confessed that her partner, Jerrod, murdered the teen couple and disposed of their bodies. In the early morning hours of December 30, 2017, while Breezy and Riley were with Morgan in her residence in Eureka, Jerrod walked in and became angry as he had strictly forbidden his girlfriend to have male friends over at the house. What added fuel to the fire was the fact that Morgan and Riley used to date earlier. According to Morgan, Jerrod taped their mouths and drove them down to the abandoned mine outside town.
There, he stabbed the couple multiple times before disposing of them in the abandoned mine shaft. On March 27, 2018, Morgan led the authorities to Tintic Standard Mine, from where they retrieved the remains of Breezy and Riley. The following day, Jerrod Baum was taken into custody under suspicion of murdering the teens. A couple of days later, on March 30, Morgan was also arrested for obstruction of justice. While Jerrod was charged with first-degree murder and other felonies, Morgan was charged with two second-degree counts of obstructing justice.
Morgan Lewis is Possibly Out on Probation While Jerrod Baum is Serving His Life Sentences
On October 5, 2018, Morgan Lewis Henderson pleaded guilty to the charges against her and agreed to testify against her boyfriend in court during his trial. In exchange, she received three years of prison time in addition to five years of probation. On June 10, 2019, Jerrod Baum pleaded not guilty to the murder charges against him. Nearly four years after the untimely demise of Breeze and Riley, on March 7, 2022, the murder trial of Jerrod got underway. While the prosecution heavily depended on the testimony of Morgan against Jerrod, the defense argued that there was no DNA evidence that linked the defendant to the killings. After hearing many back and forths between the prosecution and defense, the jury deliberated for two days after a month-long trial and returned with a guilty verdict.
On April 15, 2022, Jerrod Baum was finally convicted of several charges, including two counts of aggravated kidnapping, aggravated murder, and abuse of desecration of a human body. On June 9, the killer was sentenced to four consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole. As of today, he is incarcerated at Utah State Correctional Facility in Salt Lake City, Utah. As far as Morgan Henderson’s whereabouts are concerned, she is seemingly out of prison and serving her probation.
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