Sloops appointed attorneys, make appearance in Ethan Stacy murder case

FARMINGTON — Husband and wife Nathan and Stephanie Sloop have been appointed two Salt Lake City-based attorneys experienced in capital murder cases.

The Sloops have been charged with capital homicide in connection with the death of 4-year-old Ethan Stacy, Stephanie Sloop's son. Prosecutors have yet to formally file a motion showing that they will seek the death penalty in the case but have indicated "that is the direction this case is headed."

A 2nd District judge has appointed Mary Corporon, who has represented death row inmate Ralph Menzies, to take the case of Stephanie Sloop, 27, and Richard Mauro will handle Nathan Sloop's defense. Mauro, who also worked on the Menzies case, has also represented death row inmate Von Lester Taylor.

The two attorneys indicated in a hearing Monday that they need time to go over the information and reports in the Sloop case and are working to appoint co-counsel.

In addition to the capital murder charges, each of the Sloops was charged with child abuse and obstructing justice, both second-degree felonies, and abuse or desecration of a body, a third-degree felony.

Nathan Sloop, 31, received an additional charge of damaging a jail, a third-degree felony.

The couple is accused of killing Ethan and burying his body near Powder Mountain in Weber County on or around Mother's Day. Court documents list "severe abuse" as the cause of death.

Investigators say Ethan was abused between April 29 and May 8.

After Ethan was killed, the Sloops took his body to a rural area in the mountains and buried him in a shallow grave, police say. Police documents indicate the couple attempted to disfigure Ethan's body with a hammer to make it harder for police to identify him.

Stephanie Sloop at first told police her son had wandered off in the middle of the night, but after several hours of searching and questioning, investigators say there were inconsistencies in the Sloops' stories, which eventually unraveled, leading to their arrest.

A hearing has been scheduled for July 14. It was continued once before after the court was notified that the Sloops needed attorneys who are qualified under the state law to represent defendants in death penalty cases.