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Show Tuttle trial to start Monday by Christopher Smart Wesley Allen Tuttle, the man charged in the Summit Park off-ramp killing, is scheduled to go on trial Monday, April 16. Tuttle is accused of the Sept. 26 stabbing death of a 21-year-old Salt Lake City woman, Sydney Merrick. Ninety prospective jurors have been selected from Summit County voters, twelve of which will sit in judgment on Tuttle unless he is granted a change of venue. Third District Court Judge Phillip Fishier will rule on the motion for venue change filed by Tuttle' s attorney, Kenneth R. Brown, after the perspective jurors have been interviewed. inter-viewed. Implicit in the motion is that Tuttle cannot receive a fair trial in Summit County. Brown, however, would not comment on whether an impartial jury could be selected from Summit County residents. Assistant Summit County Attorney Terry Christiansen said that he will argue against the motion. Tuttle was apprehended in connection connec-tion with a witness identification of a truck driving up Parley's Canyon on the day that Merrick was murdered. Allegedly, Tuttle was seen driving the" truck as it towed Merrick's white Datsun up Interstate 80. Merrick was found slain in the car at the Summit Park off-ramp. According to authorities she died from numerous stab wounds to the neck and chest. Merrick was enroute to Park City with a delivery when, police believe, her car's radiator overheated in Parley's Canyon. At the time of the killing, Tuttle was believed to be working in Evanston, Wyoming, where the truck described by witnesses was located. Shortly after that date, however, Tuttle left Wyoming. On Oct. 8 he surrendered to FBI agents in Spokane, Washington. Washing-ton. Tuttle had been in and out of prison over a 12-year period beginning in September of 1970 and ending in March of 1982, according to the Idaho State Correctional Institution. While there, he was paroled twice and escaped once. Tuttle has served time for grand larceny, second degree burglary and escape from a state prison. His release in 1982 came after he had served his full sentei.ee. |