Man accused of killing Anna Palmer makes first court appearance

SALT LAKE CITY — The man accused of killing Anna Palmer 12-years ago made his first court appearance in Utah Monday.

Matthew John Breck, 31, was charged in January in 3rd District Court with aggravated murder, aggravated sex abuse of a child and child abuse in connection with the 1998 death of 10-year-old Palmer. The young girl's body was found stabbed to death on the front porch of her home, 1633 S. 300 East, and soon became one of the Salt Lake City Police Department's highest profile cold cases.

Advances in DNA technology provided investigators a major breakthrough in the case and led to charges being filed against Breck, who was 19 and lived in Palmer's neighborhood at the time of the slaying. Breck had been in the Idaho Correctional Institution-Orofino, in Clearwater County, Idaho, since 2001, when he was convicted of sodomy/lewdness of a child under 16.

On Monday, Breck made a brief court appearance via the Salt Lake County Jail's closed circuit video system. His attorney, John West, waived the reading of the charges against him.

Breck, wearing a dark jail jump suit, did not address the court. A scheduling hearing was set for July 16.

Outside the courtroom, West declined to talk about his client's case.

"It's way too early to talk about that," he said. "We're just starting to look into it."

Even though Breck was charged in January, West said there was nothing out of the ordinary about his extradition back to Utah. He said he had been in Idaho prior to Monday to meet with his client.

Because Breck is charged with aggravated murder, prosecutors have the option of making it a death penalty case if they choose. A decision on whether the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office will seek capital punishment if Breck is convicted won't come for a couple of months.

No one from Palmer's family was present in the courtroom Monday. Nancy Palmer, Anna's mother, still lives in Salt Lake County, but has remained very private since her daughter's death, rarely, if ever, granting an interview to the media.

Breck remained in the Salt Lake County Jail Monday on $2 million bail.

e-mail: preavy@desnews.com