Suspect may have to grow hair out

BRIGHAM CITY — When it comes to capital murder charges, no detail is too small to be overlooked before a case proceeds.

Prosecutors in the case of Glenn Howard Griffin want him to grow his hair and beard back the way they say they were in 1984 when a young man was murdered at a family-owned gas station/convenience store in Box Elder County. Griffin has been charged with the murder and, if convicted, potentially faces execution.

But Griffin's defense lawyers insist this would violate Griffin's rights and would prejudice a jury by making him look like a witness sketch of a possible, unnamed suspect who may have been seen that fatal night.

First District Judge Ben Hadfield heard oral arguments Monday, then issued a conditional court order: Griffin must grow his hair down to mid-back level and grow a fuller beard so prosecutors can get still photographs and videotapes of him to show the jury.

After that, how Griffin chooses to groom himself is his business.

"He can appear at the trial as he chooses," the judge said.

In addition, Hadfield directed prosecutors to get affidavits from people who knew Griffin in 1984 to more fully support claims that he had a beard and long hair.

Griffin, 48, appeared in court Monday wearing his wavy hair about collar length and with a beard, the dark brown color seen in previous photos now filled with a good deal of gray. He is being held in the Box Elder County Jail charged with aggravated murder. A co-defendant, Wade Garrett Maughan, is being held in the Cache County Jail.

Both are charged in connection the murder of Bradley Newell Perry, 21, who was killed 22 years ago this week while working the graveyard shift at the Perry Texaco on U.S. 89.

Police say two men came into the store, took Perry into the back, and killed him by stabbing him 15 times with a screwdriver and crushing his skull, and later making off with money from the till.

But during the crime, two Utah State University students drove up to buy gas and later told police they were surprised that someone came out of the building to fill their gas tank and fetch cigarettes at a self-service station. They told police the man had what looked like blood on his clothes and shoes, and, when making change, gave one of them a dollar bill that had a wet, red substance on it. They quickly drove off and called police, who arrived to find Perry dead and the assailants gone.