Defense raises competency concerns in Wales murder case

MANTI—A 43-year-old Sanpete County woman accused of shooting and killing her father June 20 near Wales will return to court later this month after her attorney raised concerns about her competency during a hearing Wednesday.

Aidan Marissa Woods appeared in Manti’s 6th District Court on Wednesday, Sept. 2, where her attorney, James Wright, told Judge Mandy Larsen that he was considering whether to request a competency evaluation.

Wright said the defense received new evidentiary information and that circumstances occurring in the past week had raised a question in his mind about Woods’ competency. Wright said he had discussed the issue with Woods and was still consulting with other attorneys at his law firm before deciding whether to formally file a competency motion.

Wright asked the court to continue the case, saying the defense would either file a competency request or proceed toward a preliminary hearing at the next court appearance. Sanpete County Attorney Kevin Daniels did not object to the request.

“We don’t have a practice of getting between a client and their attorney when it comes to competency,” a state attorney told the court, adding that prosecutors would defer to Wright’s judgment.

Judge Larsen scheduled Woods’ next hearing for Sept. 16 at 9 a.m.

Woods is charged with murder, a first-degree felony, in the shooting death of her father at a roadside residence near Wales. She also faces three drug-related charges.

According to a statement filed by the Sanpete County Sheriff’s Office, Woods admitted to shooting her father June 20 and directed deputies to a firearm inside the trailer where she had been living.

Investigators found the victim in a separate residence on the property with a gunshot wound to the back of the head. Deputies recovered a spent shell casing near the body, and court records state the firearm recovered from Woods’ trailer matched the caliber of the casing.

Deputies also reported finding THC, methamphetamine residue and drug paraphernalia inside the trailer.

Woods had been released from custody on unrelated drug and firearm charges less than two weeks before her father’s death. She was arrested June 1 on a DUI allegation and again June 4 on charges including possession of a firearm by a restricted person, DUI and possession of controlled substances.

During a June 10 hearing, prosecutors argued Woods should be held without bail because she posed a danger to the community. Larsen instead released her under strict conditions, including house arrest.

She remains held without bail in the Sanpete County Jail.