Utahn arrested in Oklahoma

A man wanted for investigation of murder in West Valley City has been arrested in Oklahoma and is fighting his extradition back to Utah.

Curtis Jason Ellis, 39, was arrested Tuesday in Norman, Okla., said West Valley Police Capt. Tom McLachlan.

In November, police responded to a house near 3300 West and 3600 South where a woman was suffering a possible heart attack, which may have been caused by a drug overdose, McLachlan said. Shuree C. Baarsma, Ellis' live-in girlfriend, died in the incident.

An autopsy revealed trauma to the neck consistent with strangulation, McLachlan said. But there were no other injuries that normally go along with a strangulation, such as injuries suffered trying to fight off such an attack, he said.

The medical examiner determined Baarsma was under the influence of drugs at the time of her death and would have been unable to defend herself from being strangled, McLachlan said.

Neighbors reported hearing an argument and possible domestic violence coming from the residence the night before, he said.

A first-degree felony murder charge was filed Friday in 3rd District Court against Ellis, who disappeared after Baarsma's death, McLachlan said.

Investigators located Ellis after they found out he had relatives in Oklahoma and checked out some locations.

"Our hunch was correct," McLachlan said.

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