Prosecutors: Man stabbed grandmother 111 times

SALT LAKE CITY A Utah man accused of killing his grandmother stabbed her 111 times, telling police he had cut her in several places and removed several of her internal organs, prosecutors claim in new court documents.

Police went to 84-year-old Joyce Dexter's Salt Lake City home on Oct. 3 after receiving a domestic disturbance call. According to court records released Friday, officers found Zachary Cole Weston standing over Dexter while holding a bloody knife.

Weston had blood on his clothing and hands and later told investigators that he had "slit her belly, her heart and her jugular," the records said.

The 21-year-old has been charged with aggravated murder, a capital offense.

Family members have said Weston suffers from mental illness. He was recently charged with assault for hitting his father during a Sept. 27 argument. In 2010, he was arrested after he was accused of pushing his mother and striking a police officer. He pleaded guilty to one of two assault charges.

As part of his sentence, he was ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation and complete any recommended treatment, but he was charged Aug. 9 with two counts of assault and interfering with a police officer during an arrest for slapping one hospital employee and punching another in the face, the Deseret News reported.

Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill declined to comment Friday to the Deseret News on a possible motive, but he praised police for responding so quickly.

[ngagebrainthenopine]

This article leaves out several facts. From the Salt Lake tribune, http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/55073401-78/weston-kulander-police-according.html.csp, "In August, Weston allegedly punched one University of Utah Neuropsychiatric Institute employee in the face, and another in the ears. In September he swallowed a rock and poured scalding water down his throat, after which he was admitted as a "psych patient" at LDS hospital. There, he jumped through a window into a nurses station and injured two employees trying to restrain him, according to a police report. Later in the month, Weston was arrested again for allegedly hitting his father and biting a woman who was in his Millcreek area home."
Why was a psych patient let out of the hospital under these circumstances? If he was too much for the guys in white coats to handle, what did they think they were doing putting him back on the street? And don't the authorities in Utah talk to one another? After the LDS hospital let him go and after he was jailed for hitting his father and biting the woman, this obviously disturbed individual was bailed out of jail by his drug addicted mother, who dumped him on grandma and that's where it ended.

[tsigili]

He should do a year for every stab wound. 111 yr. sentence.....no parole.....prison or mental institution.....makes no difference.

[taxed01]

Opps! He's nuts so it's all OK. Now it's time for the taxpayers to start paying for all his "needs". That's our version of so-called justice. As for the granny - in the eyes of our justice system she is just dead meat.

[random_thought]

i think this is the fault of the state. he showed a history of violence mental illness its clear he was a danger to others after 2 assults he should have been locked away 1 is a teachable moment 2 is proof he didnt learn or un able to

[wmdmia]

The police apparently did not respond quickly enough.

[CuriousServant]

This is so sad... It is clearly a slow escalation of mental illness. In hindsight it seems clear.

[MegaProcrastination]

Yeah, that's the great thing about some mental illnesses. In hindsight everything a person with a particular illness usually makes sense. It's too bad more of it doesn't directly point to the person being ill.

[PuleeezeGetReal]

Put an end to his suffering. Death by lethal injection or maybe just like he did to his grandmother.

[FormerUSMCSergeant]

As part of his sentence, he was ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation and complete any recommended treatment...
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If he did not, why wasn't he arrested?
If he did, why wasn't he committed for treatment?