North Ogden man arrested in slaying

North Ogden police said a 23-year-old woman was breaking up with her boyfriend and he stabbed her to death.

Johnny Maurice Bell, 21, is now in jail for investigation of murder after being arrested trying to leave the state on a bus just hours after Brittany Nichols' body was found inside her bedroom.

"Brittany told Johnny she was ending their relationship of about four months," North Ogden Police Chief Polo Afuvai said in a statement Monday.

Nichols was found dead Sunday afternoon when her father couldn't reach her by phone. At her home at 2421 N. 400 East, he found blood inside the home. He found her dead in the master bedroom.

"An autopsy report revealed the victim had been stabbed multiple times on her upper and lower torso," Afuvai said.

Investigators pursuing leads in Nichols' slaying found an acquaintance who told them Bell was on a Greyhound bus headed for San Bernadino, Calif., where he has family. Utah Highway Patrol troopers and Millard County sheriff's deputies intercepted the bus at Cove Fort about 10:30 p.m. Sunday.

"We didn't want to set up a hostage situation so we called Greyhound and called the driver on his cell phone. We got him to pull over at the Fort Cove Chevron," UHP Sgt. Jeff Nigbur said Monday. "We told him to try to get all the passengers he could off the bus."

Six, including Bell, did not leave, so troopers went in and arrested the man.

"He knew the game was up. We took him into custody without incident," Nigbur said.

Bell was booked into the Weber County Jail early Monday for investigation of criminal homicide, a first-degree felony. He is being held without bail.

The Weber County Attorney's Office was screening the case and Bell was expected to make a formal appearance in 2nd District Court on Tuesday.

E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com