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Victim’s daughter present for sentencing in cold case murder

Posted at 9:18 PM, Nov 22, 2016
and last updated 2016-11-22 23:18:22-05

PRICE, Utah — Forty-six years after she was brutally murdered, the daughter of Loretta Jones stood in a court room and confronted her mother's killer.

"I've always wanted [your] children and grandchildren to know what kind of monster [you] are," said Heidi Jones-Asay, while standing less than ten feet from him.

Jones-Asay was only four years old when her mother was stabbed 16 times, assaulted, her throat cut and strangled.  She was sleeping in a room next door and woke the next morning to find her mom.

"[You're] a poor excuse for a human being," she continued.

The man she was addressing is 76-year-old Thomas Egley.  Egley was once a suspect in the murder but police never had enough information to make charges stick. But in 2009, Sergeant David Brewer helped pick up the cold case and push for answers.  Speaking outside the court room, Sgt. Brewer said it all started to come together once he picked up the phone to call Egley's girlfriend.

"She told me a few bombshells," Sgt. Brewer said.

The information led Sgt. Brewer to pursue DNA tests on Loretta Jones for possible matches to Egley.  However, Egley came forward before the tests came back with a confession, and in October, pleaded guilty to murder.

On Tuesday, the judge read his sentence of ten years to life, in accordance with laws from 1970 when the crime was committed.

"I can't believe it," said an excited Jones-Asay. "But if he does come up for parole in ten years, then i will make sure to be there for his meeting so he spends the rest of his life in prison."