ANNA PALMER - 10 yo (1998) - Salt Lake City UT

A man charged with the 1998 murder of a 10-year-old girl Salt Lake City girl denies any role in the killing,
according to a series of motions apparently drawn up by the defendant in an Idaho prison cell.

Matthew John Breck, 31, is charged with aggravated murder — which carries the potential for the death penalty —
in connection with the Sept. 10, 1998, stabbing death of Anna Palmer on
the front porch of her home.

Breck is also charged with first-degree felony aggravated sexual abuse of a child and second-degree felony child
abuse. He was arraigned Monday in 3rd District Court.

Breck was extradited Friday to Utah from Idaho, where he had been serving time for a 2001 conviction on charges
of sodomy/lewdness of a minor child.




In court documents, Breck claims he didn’t kill Palmer and accuses his appointed
defense attorneys of possible “hooliganism.”

In letters and legal motions recently mailed to 3rd District Judge Robert Faust, who will handle the trial, Breck
recounts how two detectives interviewed him in October 2009 about
Palmer’s case, claiming a recent DNA match linked him to the girl’s death.

“They said I killed this girl,” Breck wrote. “I told them that I did not and then I requested a lawyer at that time.”

Breck also told the judge he was concerned his court-appointed attorneys, John West and Deborah Kreek-Mendez, did
not have his “best interest in mind.” Breck claimed they had failed to
respond to his letters and he was afraid his constitutional rights were being “trampled.”
Breck said in an error-riddled letter to the
defense team, “I sure hope that you are placing my interests before the
states interests and that there is no conflict in your representations
of this case and that there is no hooliganism going on.”

The defendant also asked for a temporary gag order on prosecutors, defense attorneys and the media.
“Publications/news media/radio can and do capitalize on the tragic issue and events portrayed in the justice
system and cause prejudice against the defence and would not be
probative to the defendant,” Breck wrote. “I ask the court to rember
once the bell has been rang, it cannot but unrang.”

Breck is to appear for a scheduling hearing on July 16 before Judge Vernice Trease. He is being held at the Salt
Lake County jail in lieu of $2 million bail.

At the time of the slaying, Breck was 19 and
lived down the street from Palmer’s home, in the 1600 South block of 300
East. But he was never a suspect until linked to the slaying by DNA
testing. A witness had given police a description of a man who followed
the witness and Anna Palmer as they walked home from school on Sept. 10.
1998. According to charging documents, that description matches Breck.

Preliminary hearing set for man accused of 1998 slaying
By pamela manson

The Salt Lake Tribune

Published Jul 16, 2010 08:29PM
Updated Jul 18, 2010 03:37PM
A preliminary hearing has been set for July 30 for a man accused of murdering a 10-year-old Salt Lake City girl more than a decade ago.

Matthew John Breck, 31, is charged with aggravated murder, which carries the potential for the death penalty, in the Sept. 10, 1998, stabbing death of Anna Palmer on the front porch of her home. He denies any role in the slaying.

Breck also is charged with first-degree felony aggravated sexual abuse of a child and second-degree felony child abuse. He was extradited July 9 to Utah from Idaho, where he had been serving time for a 2001 conviction on charges of sodomy/lewdness of a minor child under the age of 16.

“It’s really been an emotional time,” said Nancy Palmer, Anna’s mother, who attended a Friday scheduling hearing in 3rd District Court, where the July 30 proceeding will be held. “We appreciate all the concern and caring and we look forward to a resolution.”

The preliminary hearing will be held before Judge Judith Atherton.

At the time of the slaying, Breck was 19 and lived down the street from Anna’s home, in the 1600 South block of 300 East. But he was not a suspect until linked to the killing by DNA testing.

Anna was stabbed at least five times in the throat and was discovered lying in a pool of blood in the corner of the family’s covered porch when her mother returned home from work about 7:30 p.m.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/49936828-76/anna-hearing-breck-child.html.csp

June preliminary hearing set in 1998 slaying of Salt Lake City girl
Updated Nov 1, 2010 10:57PM
A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for June for a man accused of murdering a 10-year-old Salt Lake City girl more than a decade ago.

Matthew John Breck, 31, is charged in 3rd District Court with aggravated murder, which carries the potential for the death penalty, in the Sept. 10, 1998, stabbing death of Anna Palmer on the front porch of her home.

Breck also is charged with first-degree felony aggravated sexual abuse of a child and second-degree felony child abuse.

Recently linked to the slaying by DNA, Breck was extradited this summer from Idaho, where he had been serving time for a 2001 conviction on charges of sodomy/lewdness of a minor child under the age of 16.
A three-day preliminary hearing is set to begin June 14, 2011, before Judge Judith Atherton.
Defense attorneys said they could not proceed any sooner due to the amount of discovery in the case, which includes 8,600 documents, plus a large number of computer discs.

“I’m glad [the case] is progressing,” said the victim’s mother, Nancy Palmer, after the hearing. “It’s nice to have something happening.”

At the time of the slaying, Breck was 19 and lived down the street from Anna’s home, in the 1600 South block of 300 East. He was not a suspect until he was linked to the killing by DNA testing in late 2009.

Anna, who was stabbed at least five times in the throat, was discovered lying in a pool of blood in the corner of the family’s covered porch by her mother when she returned from work at about 7:30 p.m.

Breck has claimed in court documents that he did not kill the girl.

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50305728-76/breck-hearing-girl-june.html.csp

Hearing begins for man accused of Salt Lake girl’s ’98 murder

Updated Jun 14, 2011 03:47PM



Nancy Palmer never knew Matthew Breck, never saw him walking down the sidewalk where her daughter often played.

"Do you recognize this man in the gold [jumpsuit]?" prosecutor Vincent Meister asked, pointing to Breck as he sat in a 3rd District courtroom on Tuesday.

"No," Palmer replied.

But police and prosecutors say Breck — a neighbor — was the last man to see 10-year-old Anna Palmer alive.

Testifying at a preliminary hearing Tuesday, Nancy Palmer recalled the evening of Sept. 10, 1998, when she arrived home from work to find her daughter lying dead on the front porch of their Salt Lake City home.

"She obviously — I looked at her and knew she was probably gone," the mother testified.

Anna Palmer wore a Levi shorts coverall and a pink and white striped shirt, Nancy Palmer said. The girl’s feet were so close to the front door that her mother said she worried about hitting them as she ran back and forth between the phone and the body, speaking with dispatchers and performing CPR.

Palmer was the first of many witnesses who will testify during Breck’s preliminary hearing, which is scheduled to run through Thursday, at which point Judge Judith Atherton will decide if there is sufficient evidence to order him to stand trial for the girl’s murder.

Anna Palmer was 10 when she was killed on the front porch of her home, near 1600 South and 300 East. She had bruises on her body, cuts inside her mouth, according to charges. She had been stabbed five times in the throat and there was evidence of sexual abuse.

Breck, the alleged killer, lived just down the street at the time of the slaying.

The case had been cold for years, until investigators say they matched DNA from under the girl’s fingernails to Breck, now 32, who was serving time in an Idaho prison for sexual abuse.

Breck was charged in January 2010 with first-degree felony counts of aggravated murder and aggravated sexual abuse of a child, and second-degree felony child abuse. The murder charges carries the potential for the death penalty. He was extradited in July 2010 from Idaho, where he was serving a prison sentence for a 2001 conviction for sodomy/lewdness of a minor child.

In court documents, Breck has denied any role in the killing.

At the time of the homicide, Breck, then 19, was living with Todd Clark, who testified he had "partied" with Breck’s older brother while living in California.

After Clark moved to Utah and got out of the homeless shelters, he said he wanted to "pay it forward," so he invited the brother to live with him. Matthew Breck followed.

Clark said he smoked marijuana and methamphetamine with the Breck brothers. "He always carried a knife," Clark said of Matthew Breck. "[The Breck brothers] were always playing with knives."

Clark testified that Matthew Breck "carried himself like he was 6-6, 300 pounds" even though he was closer to 5-foot-7.

"If was walking down the sidewalk, he wanted everyone to know he was on the sidewalk," Todd Clark testified.

Because of Breck’s cockiness, Clark and his wife, Terri Clark, both testified that they were surprised when a neighbor recalled seeing Breck "slinking" down the alley by his home on the night of the slaying.



http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/51998651-78/breck-clark-palmer-testified.html.csp?page=2

SALT LAKE CITY -- A man accused of killing a 10-year-girl
over a decade ago is in court waiting to see if he'll be
bound over for trial for her death.
Anna Palmer was found stabbed to death on the front porch
of her home in September of 1998. The case went unsolved
for years, and quickly became one of the Salt Lake City
Police Department's highest profile cold cases. Finally, DNA evidence linked the killing to Matthew John Breck.


Breck was charged in January 2010 with aggravated murder, aggravated sex abuse of a child and child abuse in
connection with Anna Palmer's death.

During his preliminary hearing Tuesday morning, Breck sat
leaning forward in his chair, often whispering to his
attorneys as witnesses described Breck as a man who liked
to party. They say he walked around the neighborhood with
an aura of arrogance, talking to people as if he wanted to pick a fight.
They also said Breck always carried knives and often showed them off to his friends.
Todd Clark said he met Breck and his brother, Tom, while living in
California. When a good turn led to steady employment and a home in
Utah, Clark said he wanted to return to favor and "pay it forward." He
invited Tom Breck to come to Utah, which he did, with his brother
Matthew Breck arriving soon after.
"He carried himself like he was 6 foot 6, 300 pounds," Clark said
of Matthew Breck. "If he was walking down the sidewalk, he wanted
everybody to know he was there."


But while Clark said he "partied" with both of the Brecks, his wife didn't like Matthew.
"My wife felt weirded out from Matthew," he testified. "She didn't want him around the kids. She was afraid of him."
Clark's wife, Terri, testified that she, in fact, was the one who
told a police officer she worked with at an area grocery store to "look
into" Matthew Breck when it came to Anna Palmer's murder. She said she
mentioned it in a conversation around 2006.
As many as a dozen witnesses are expected to take the stand for
prosecutors throughout the course of the preliminary hearing, which is
expected to run through Thursday. Defense attorneys have indicated they
will also call witnesses, but potentially at a different date.

Prosecutors also had Anna Palmer's mother Nancy Palmer
take the stand and describe what it was like to come home
and find her 10-year-old daughter murdered and left on the front porch.
On Sept. 10, 1998, Anna called her mother, Nancy Palmer,
around 5 p.m. and asked if she could play with friends.
Her mother returned to their home near 1600 South and 300
East in Salt Lake City at 7 p.m., unusually late, and found her lifeless daughter.
"I looked at her and I knew she was probably gone," Palmer testified
Tuesday in 3rd District Court. "Her face was waxy, pale, yellowy color, like there was no blood flow."
Nancy Palmer spoke of how she touched her daughter's hand and found she
was cold to the touch, prompting her to immediately call 911.
"(Dispatchers) instructed me to do CPR, and I told them it wasn't
working because she had a hole in her throat," she said. "They told me
to put my hand over it and try it that way."


She testified that paramedics arrived within minutes, but that
"it seemed to me like a long time." They transported the girl to the
hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Before her death, Nancy said Anna was "like a little
socialite," spending time with all of the children in the neighborhood.
When Palmer was murdered in 1998 police ended up tracking
down over 1,000 leads, but the case went cold.
Investigators at the time were frustrated by the lack of
witnesses, despite the fact that the killing took place
during the day near a busy intersection. An $11,000 reward
turned up numerous leads, but none led to an arrest.
But police did keep trimmings from the little girl's
finger nails with their collection of evidence. It was
those trimmings that were tested years later for DNA
evidence. The DNA matched up with then-19-year-old
Matthew Breck, who lived in the same neighborhood as Palmer back
when the murder happened.
At the time of the discovery, Breck was already locked up
in an Idaho prison for sexually abusing a child.
At the conclusion of the hearing, 3rd District Judge Judith Atherton
will determine whether there is enough evidence to order Breck to stand trial.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=15967958

SALT LAKE CITY — On Tuesday, witnesses testified about the last time
they saw Anna Palmer, who may have killed her and how her mother found
the 10-year-old girl dead on her front porch.
On Wednesday, deputy chief medical examiner Edward Leis detailed
the girl's extensive injuries and Dan Hellwig, a DNA analyst, explained
how evidence taken from the girl's fingernails pointed to Matthew John
Breck, 32.
"One in 11 million" is the lowest probability that the DNA
belongs to anyone other than Breck, and Hellwig said that is based on
the "most conservative" estimate.
Breck is facing charges of capital murder and aggravated sexual
abuse of a child, first-degree felonies, and child abuse, a
second-degree felony, in connection with the Sept. 10, 2008, slaying.
If convicted, the man could face the death penalty.
Wednesday was the second day of a preliminary hearing in 3rd
District Court on the evidence in the case. At the end of witness
testimony, Judge Judith Atherton will determine whether there is enough probable cause for the man to stand trial for Anna's death.
Nancy Palmer spoke of how she found her daughter on the porch of
her home. She said it was all but apparent to her that her daughter was
dead.
Leis said there were several stab wounds to the girl's neck. One
severed her jugular vein, causing her to bleed to death. Another pierced
her spinal cord, an injury that would have paralyzed her from the chest
down. He said he couldn't determine which injuries were sustained
first.
"They could have all been inflicted in a very short time," Leis said.
Anna's killing went unsolved and became one of the city's most
prominent cold cases. It was DNA technology that finally linked Breck to
the crime.
Hellwig said an initial test was done on the DNA under the girl's
fingernails sometime before 2007 and showed there were definitely two
different DNA profiles. One was clearly Anna's. The second profile went
unidentified until 2009 when Breck's DNA was tested. He was a match on
two separate tests.
"If you were to take known DNA from Anna Palmer and known DNA
from Matthew Breck and put them in a test tube, you'd get the same
results?" prosecutor Vincent Meister asked.
"Yes, actually," Hellwig replied.
In a police interview, Breck denied even knowing who Anna was, much less having contact with her.
A scheduling conference has been set for June 17. At that time, a
half-day hearing will be scheduled to conclude the preliminary hearing.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=960&sid=15988282

Third day of preliminary hearing for Matthew Breck canceled

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - The man accused of killing 10-year-old Anna Palmer will have to wait to find out if he'll stand trial for murder.

The third and final day of his preliminary hearing was canceled Thursday because one of the witnesses scheduled to testify was ill.

The court will decide Friday when to hold the hearing.

Anna Palmer's mother found her body on the front porch of their home in 1998.

Breck was just linked to the case by DNA evidence a few months ago.
http://www.abc4.com/content/news/slc/story/Third-day-of-preliminary-hearing-for-Matthew/fGwAp9RXp0awPrssj2Dl5Q.cspx

Accused killer’s letter: ‘I don’t remember if I did this or not’
First published Jul 08 2011 06:12PM
Updated Jul 11, 2011 12:01AM
Salt Lake City police Detective Cordon Parks had never heard the name Matthew John Breck until it popped up on a national DNA database in 2009, matching a sample found under the fingernails of a young girl killed more than a decade earlier.

When Parks confronted Breck in an Idaho prison, where Breck was serving time for sexually assaulting a minor, he denied knowing the homicide victim, 10-year-old Anna Palmer.

In a letter Breck wrote to his family a short time after that visit, however, he said he couldn’t be sure.

"The bad thing is I don’t remember if I did this or not," Breck wrote in the letter, obtained by police and read by Parks during a preliminary hearing Friday in 3rd District Court. "In ‘98, I was so f----- up on so many different drugs at the same time I didn’t know what I was doing most of the time."

Anna Palmer was found lying in a pool of blood on the porch of her home, near 1600 South and 300 East, on the evening of Sept. 10, 1998. She had been stabbed five times in the throat, police said.

The case was cold until Parks was assigned to review it in the summer of 2009. His investigation soon led him to Breck, who lived in the girl’s neighborhood in 1998.

Breck, 32, was charged with aggravated murder, a crime punishable by death, in January 2010. He has also been charged with aggravated sex abuse of a child, a first-degree felony, and inflicting serious injury on a child, a second-degree felony.

In court last month, a DNA expert testified the most conservative probability that the sample taken from under Anna Palmer’s fingernails belonged to someone other than Breck was "one in 11 million."

Breck’s attorneys on Friday asked to file written arguments concerning the evidence presented during the man’s preliminary hearing — three days of testimony that started in mid-June and concluded Friday.

Defense attorney John West said Breck’s legal team plans to argue the aggravating factors of Breck’s alleged crimes, which could impact the potential penalty involved in the case. In court, West questioned whether signs of trauma to the girl’s genitals might have been caused by someone pulling on her overalls or some other nonsexual action.

Judge Judith Atherton said she will rule Aug. 12 on whether Breck is to stand trial on the charges.

http://m.sltrib.com/sltrib/mobile/52156761-90/breck-court-girl-letter.html.csp

SALT LAKE CITY — When 10-year-old Anna Palmer
was killed in September of 1998, it was like one minute she was alive
and the next she wasn't.


She was running home from a friend's house and then she was found
dead on her own front porch. It was clear what had killed her, but
there was no clue as to who had done it.


And there wasn't for years.


On Friday, the man who was charged years later in 2010 with her
death — Matthew John Breck — pleaded guilty to aggravated murder, a
first-degree felony, and was immediately sentenced to life in prison
without parole.
A month after Palmer died, police and
volunteers handed out fliers, incredulous that no one on busy 300 East
had witnessed the slaying — or anything leading up to it.


The girl's mother, Nancy Palmer, has rarely granted interviews,
but always thanks the public for their concern and expresses her wish to
see the case resolved.


In court hearings, she has described her daughter, a girl with
dark brown hair and a sweet smile, as a "little socialite," known to
have a number of friends.


The case went unsolved for years, quickly becoming one of Salt
Lake City's most notorious cold cases. It wasn't until advances in DNA
technology led to a breakthrough in the case, leading to charges against
Matthew John Breck, who was 19 and living in Palmer's neighborhood at
the time of the murder.


DNA recovered from under Palmer's fingernails was matched to
Breck, now 32, who had been in the Idaho Correctional
Institution-Orofino, in Clearwater County, Idaho, since 2001, when he
was convicted of sodomy/lewdness of a child under 16.


He was charged with aggravated murder, aggravated sex abuse of a
child and child abuse in connection with Palmer's death and a three-day
preliminary hearing was held on the charges.


Friday's hearing, before 3rd District Judge Judith Atherton, was
to include a decision on whether the man would stand trial on the
charges, but changed after a plea deal was brokered.


"I think it's a good resolution," prosecutor Vince Meister said.
"It's a resolution (the family) was happy with. Since day one, they
wanted to see that Matthew Breck would never get out and hurt another
little girl."


Nancy Palmer thanked police and prosecutors who worked on the case.


"It's been a long time coming," she said. "Hopefully now we can get past her death to the good things."


http://www.ksl.com/?nid=960&sid=16780570