Plea deal possible in murder case

FARMINGTON — Although attorneys are preparing as if a trial will occur, there are ongoing discussions of a possible plea agreement in the case of Roger Martin MacGuire, who is accused of fatally shooting his ex-wife and the baby she was carrying.

MacGuire, 50, has been charged with two counts of capital murder. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

A jury trial has been set for September, but MacGuire's defense attorney, Richard Mauro, said outside court Monday that efforts are under way to try to work out a plea agreement.

However, Mauro cautioned that these are in the "very preliminary" stages. "We're drafting additional motions, and right now we're proceeding as if we're going to try the case," Mauro said.

He said there could be a possible plea agreement, "but we haven't reached any agreement yet."

MacGuire will appear before 2nd District Judge Michael Allphin Aug. 2 for a scheduling conference.

MacGuire has been held in the Davis County Jail since he was arrested after Susan MacGuire, 39, was shot to death on Jan. 15, 2001, in the Layton office where she worked.

Susan MacGuire had planned to marry her fianc on Feb. 14, 2001, and was about 16 weeks pregnant at the time of her death, according to testimony at a preliminary hearing.

MacGuire had raised objections to the two capital murder charges and challenged Utah's law, claiming that he could not be charged with murdering a fetus because the law did not properly define the term "unborn child."

The Utah Supreme Court in January ruled that when state legislators passed a homicide law in 1983, they intended that it apply to fetuses.

"The common-sense meaning of the term 'unborn child' is a human being at any stage of development in utero, because once fertilization occurs, an unborn child is an 'individual human life' that is 'in existence and developing prior to birth,' " the high court's written opinion said.

Since this case occurred, the state Legislature in 2002 changed the law to state that it included any unborn child "at any stage of its development."

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