Ogden woman takes deal in double killing

OGDEN — Miranda Mandy Statler, who has testified she helped her boyfriend conceal a double homicide last year, has pleaded guilty to obstructing justice, a second-degree felony.

Statler, 27, originally had been charged with five felonies but entered into a plea bargain with prosecutors. She will be sentenced April 26.

A tearful Statler testified at a preliminary hearing against her now-ex boyfriend, Jeremy Valdes, 33, who is facing two charges of aggravated murder. She said Valdes killed Pamela Jeffries, 53, and her son, Matthew Roddy, 30, in the Roy mobile home that Jeffries shared with her son. Jeffries and Roddy had invited the couple to stay with them but became angry when they suspected that Statler was sneaking Jeffries' prescribed OxyContin and Valium.

Statler, who said she and Valdes were heroin addicts, testified that Valdes and Roddy got into a fight Nov. 25, 2009, over claims about the stolen medication. She said Valdes emerged from Roddy's bedroom with a knife in his hand and his pants covered in blood. Roddy died from multiple stab wounds.

Statler said she saw Valdes kick Jeffries twice in the head and later observed that Valdes had used duct tape to secure a plastic garbage bag over Jeffries' face.

Valdes has been ordered to stand trial, but no date has been set yet.

— Linda Thomson