Utah state officials have recently charged a man with murder following a fire that led to the death of his girlfriend, an incident previously deemed a “tragic accident” by county authorities last year.
The Utah Attorney General’s Office brought forward a murder charge—or alternatively, manslaughter—against 33-year-old Alexander Paul Wardell in connection to the death of 27-year-old Morgan Kay Harris, as reported by KSL.
Wardell is also facing accusations of kidnapping and animal cruelty, with added penalty threats related to domestic violence and status as a habitual offender, should he be found guilty.
Harris and Wardell were residing in a storage unit in Salt Lake City with Harris’s dog on February 18, 2023, when a blaze broke out. Firefighters discovered a padlock on the door of the unit, hindering their access. Once inside, they found both Harris and her dog deceased.
Wardell was arrested at the time for negligent homicide and kidnapping after he admitted locking Harris and her dog inside before he left.
After a comprehensive investigation, the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office concluded it was “unlikely” Wardell set the fire on purpose and subsequently dismissed the homicide charge. District Attorney Sim Gill also dismissed the kidnapping charge, asserting that the padlock, which prevented the door from being opened from the inside, was merely how the couple secured the door.
“How do I prove she did not consent to that? With what evidence do I do that? Who do I put on the stand?” he remarked at the time. “We found no evidence after examining her phone, his phone, and all the material available, that led us to that conclusion … we searched thoroughly, we attempted to find any means possible to justify those charges. We could not reach that point.”
Charging documents filed in court on Thursday said that the state medical examiner determined Harris died from smoke inhalation and thermal injuries, but the manner of death was undetermined. Inside a duffel bag initially collected as evidence, investigators found blood — belonging to Harris — and burn marks on a shirt.
Investigators said that Harris was unconscious and sitting in a lawn chair when the fire started.
“While (Harris) sat unconscious, her buttocks area and left side caught on fire. A person who was conscious while this was occurring would have sought to evade the pain of fire, which (Harris) did not immediately do,” the charging documents said.
Gill dropped the charges last year after consulting with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, but the federal agency did not exclude an intentional fire set by Wardell.
Prosecutors also said there was evidence the couple had been fighting less than an hour before Wardell locked Harris in the unit, and he admitted that Harris was “super” mad at him that day.
Ten days before her death, she sent him a Facebook message saying “Guess I’m gonna apply to live by myself at an apartment you won’t know about so you can’t (expletive) abuse or kill me,” the charging document says.
Wardell is serving time in the Utah State Prison following a conviction on domestic violence charges against another girlfriend.
“He strangled the victim in (one case) and hit her with a golf club in (the other case),” the charges say.
Gill said Thursday that he stands by his office’s decision not to charge Wardell, but, he said, he supports state officials’ if they believe they can get a conviction.
