Man drove through Las Vegas with girlfriend’s body

By Associated Press

Friday, April 25, 2008 | 6:20 p.m.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) _ With the body of his ex-girlfriend stashed in a perfumed storage container, a man drove 1,800 miles from Utah to Las Vegas to Missouri, federal authorities said Friday as they announced a kidnapping charge.

Michael Doyel admitted to the bizarre odyssey after he and the body of Deborah Jones were discovered Monday night at a Branson, Mo., motel, FBI agent Eric Lerohl said in a court affidavit.

U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman called it a "gruesome, horrible crime'' that involved intent and planning at the end of a "romantic relationship that went bad.''

During an interview with police, Doyel said he had pledged to carve Jones' name in his arm if he "couldn't have her anymore,'' according to the FBI agent. Indeed, her name was "freshly carved'' on his arm when Doyel was discovered in Branson, Lerohl said.

Doyel, 47, of West Valley City, was charged in federal court with kidnapping Jones; prosecutors allege she was taken against her will at some point before she died.

There was no charge filed in Jones' death. Salt Lake County prosecutor Lohra Miller said her office still is investigating.

Jones, 50, disappeared April 16 after telling Salt Lake City police that Doyel was harassing her and misusing a credit card.

Surveillance video showed them at a local Perkins restaurant that same day.

A friend had a brief phone conversation with Jones on April 18. Doyel bought a large plastic container at a Lowe's store later that day and, on April 19, purchased plastic wrap and a tarp at a Wal-Mart, Lerohl said.

An autopsy found Jones died of asphyxiation. Doyel admitted stuffing the body into a storage container and covering it with clothing, towels and the tarp, Lerohl said. Her arms and legs were bound behind her back.

Doyel covered the clothing with a deodorant stick to mask the smell and also used air freshener and perfume on the box, which was secured with bungee cords, the agent wrote.

Doyel, accompanied by another woman, drove Jones' Volkswagen Passat to Las Vegas before heading east to Missouri, Lerohl said.

The other woman, Patricia Murray, told police she didn't know there was a body stored in the rear of the car.

Murray lives in assisted adult housing in a Salt Lake City suburb. She was also discovered in Branson, apparently unharmed. Doyel has been charged with kidnapping her in a separate case filed in Utah's 3rd District Court.

Doyel was flown back to Salt Lake City on Friday and jailed. An attorney had not immediately been assigned to his case.

He's due in federal court Monday or Tuesday to hear the kidnapping charge, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.