Probable weapon found in 1 of 2 Roy slayings

ROY — Police believe they have recovered a knife used to kill one of two people found dead in a mobile home Monday.

"That recovery was made yesterday in Ogden Canyon, in the bottom of the Ogden River," Roy Police Chief Greg Whinham said Wednesday.

Whinham said an autopsy performed on Matthew Roddy, 30, revealed that he died as a result of being stabbed. Whinham declined to say how many times Roddy was stabbed.

An autopsy performed on Roddy's mother, Pamela Knight Jeffries, 56, showed that she died as a result of blunt-force trauma and may have been strangled, the chief said.

Jeremy Lee Valdes, 33, and Miranda Statler, 26, were booked into the Weber County Jail on Tuesday in connection with the slayings. Valdes was jailed on a no-bail hold by Adult Probation and Parole, and Statler was taken into custody on several outstanding no-bail warrants.

No charges have yet been filed. Weber County Attorney Dee Smith said he is waiting on some final reports from police.

Members of Valdes' family expressed sorrow for the families of the victims in a brief meeting Wednesday with the media.

"We know there is nothing we can say or do to fill the void of lost loved ones," said Valdes' sister Nicole Valdes, reading from a statement. "We, too, grieve for loved ones we remember as kind and loving."

Nicole Valdes said the family has been "blindsided by this horrific tragedy."

"This is someone we have cried and laughed and played with," she said, referring to her brother. "We were just shocked when he was brought up as a suspect.

"Many lives have been forever changed," she added. "Our love and prayers go out to all who have been affected by this tragedy."

Jason Valdes, another sibling, said once the family was aware Jeremy Valdes was being sought by police, he helped his brother turn himself in. Jason Valdes said it was the hardest thing he has ever done.

"Turning him in was easier than the alternative," he said, adding that it would have been worse for the families of the victims if no arrests were made.

Roy police were initially called to Jeffries' home on Nov. 25, when she called to report the theft of OxyContin and Valium, Whinham said.

"When we had talked to her in taking that report, we asked her who might be the persons responsible," the chief said Wednesday. "She indicated the same two people we have in custody for her death."