Fellow counselor tried to save woman's life after stabbing

CLEARFIELD — Panic in his voice, a counselor at a home for troubled teens tried desperately to help save Raechale Elton's life as the 22-year-old lay dying on the floor, her throat slashed.

Clearfield police released recordings of the 911 phone calls and radio traffic Friday after a records request by the Deseret Morning News. The tapes provide new details about Elton's slaying.

The first call was made at 10:44 p.m. on Feb. 15 from Doug Mahlstede's home. Police said a car driven by 17-year-old Robert Cameron Houston crashed into the side of the house. As Mahlstede's wife joked about earthquakes, the mood changed when she walked outside toward her husband.

"He's suicidal. He said he just killed someone," she said. "Please hurry!"

As dispatchers scrambled to send police and paramedics to the crash at 286 Marilyn Drive, another 911 call came in just up the street at 396 Marilyn Drive. An employee at the home run by Youth Health Associates had just discovered Elton, a fellow counselor.

"You need to send the paramedics. I have a girl and she's seriously hurt," the counselor told 911 dispatchers. "She's unconscious. I checked her pulse and she's cold. Someone slit her neck."

The dispatcher told him to put a towel over the wound and hold it until paramedics arrived.

". . . She's breathing and there's movement," the caller said. "Not like severe movements, like twitches. Oh my goodness, I've never seen anything like this."

YHA officials said Elton was killed after she offered the teenager a ride when a male co-worker was delayed by a winter storm. Houston had been court-ordered into the program for previous criminal offenses and was enrolled in an independent living home, having transitioned from a group home.

Paramedics took Elton to Davis Hospital where she died. Down the street, an ambulance was ordered for Houston, who officers said was slipping in and out of consciousness.

Houston has been charged with aggravated murder, aggravated sexual assault and rape. Davis County prosecutors said Houston held a knife to Elton's throat while he raped her and then stabbed her to death. Houston is facing adult charges but will not be eligible for the death penalty if convicted because he is a minor. He remains in the Davis County Jail without bail.

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E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com