Daughter admits abuse in plea deal

SALT LAKE CITY — A woman charged with trying to kill her elderly parents will not go to trial on attempted murder charges.

Instead, Gretchen Bloyer, 54, pleaded guilty this week to two amended counts of attempted aggravated abuse of a disabled/elderly adult, both second-degree felonies. She had been charged with two first-degree felonies.

Third District Judge Michele Christiansen set April 20 for sentencing.

Prosecutors said Bloyer, a registered nurse who lived in the basement of her parents' home and took care of them for more than four years, had started a car in the garage on Dec. 4, 2008, and then left the house for six hours with the car still running inside.

She later called a sister and asked if their parents were dead, according to prosecutors.

However, Bloyer's defense attorneys have maintained she was burned out from taking care of two people, who then were ages 85 and 89; that Bloyer suffered from psychological problems; and that she simply blurted out the callous-sounding remark to get attention and help from her siblings.

Other siblings arrived to check on the parents, and they were fine.

— Linda Thomson