Mother charged in Ethan Stacy murder asks for marriage to be annulled

FARMINGTON — Stephanie Sloop, the woman charged in the killing of her son, Ethan Stacy, filed a petition for annulment of her marriage to her husband, who has also been charged in the boy's death.

The petition was filed by Stephanie Sloop's attorney Friday. Various news reports indicate that the woman is seeking an annulment of the May 6 nuptials on the claim that she only married Nathan Sloop because she was under "physical duress." The union became notorious when criminal charges against the couple indicated that while the two were at the courthouse, Stephanie Sloop's 4-year-old son, Ethan Stacy, was locked in a bedroom, too badly beaten to be seen in public. The Sloops removed the door handle to the boy's bedroom and "did not take Ethan with them because they were afraid to take him out in public with the swelling and bruising to his face, and that someone would call police," according to a probable cause statement.

Ethan Sloop eventually died from what prosecutors believe was "a systematic and progressively more violent pattern of abuse," his body disfigured and disposed of near Powder Mountain. The Sloops have been charged with aggravated murder.

Despite the petition for annulment, a wedding announcement page on the Internet for the couple — which has since been removed — talks about love and being soulmates.

On the page, Nathan Sloop wrote that he and Stephanie had known each other since childhood but only recently began dating.

Nathan Sloop called his relationship with Stephanie a "match made in heaven" and wrote that she was the "woman of my dreams." He described himself as having a "fast-thinking brain" and said she respected his "bad-boy side."

In her comments, she wrote that when they first started dating, "We began with full disclosure so that way our exes couldn't try and use things against us," she wrote. "Someone else's garbage is now my treasure," and "Though I loved my ex, we just weren't meant to fit together like Nathan and I do."

The couple have been together since October, according to their wedding announcement. A reception was to have been held in Golden, Colo., at the home of one of Nathan Sloop's relatives in July.

e-mail: emorgan@desnews.com