BRIGHAM CITY, Utah – A man charged with capital homicide in the 1984 slaying of a service station attendant has been ordered to grow a beard and let his hair grow out.
The order was issued in 1st District Court against Glenn Howard Griffin, 48. He and Wade Maughan are charged in the May 26, 1984, robbery-slaying of Bradley Newell Perry at the Texaco Short Stop on U.S. 89 just south of Brigham City.
Box Elder County Deputy Attorney Tom Stevenson said he wants jurors at Griffin's trial to see how Griffin looked at the time of the crime, and how he resembles a witness sketch of a possible, unnamed suspect who may have been seen the night of the slaying.
Defense attorney Randall Richards said that would violate his client's rights and would prejudice a jury.
"What they're trying to do is make the jury into eyewitnesses," he said.
Stevenson said photos of Griffin taken within a year or two of 1984 showed him with a beard and shoulder-length hair, similar to the suspect sketch.
Stevenson also said that once Griffin, while in a California prison, learned he was being charged with Perry's murder after his DNA was matched to a bloody dollar bill from the crime scene, he cut his ponytail and shaved.
"That was a blatant attempt to alter his appearance already he had hair halfway down his back before he was charged," he said.
Judge Ben Hadfield said Griffin would grow his hair and beard to prosecutor's specifications, supported by affidavits of witness's accounts of how he groomed in 1984, but only for photographs.
"He can grow his hair however he wants to when he appears at trial," the judge said.
Griffin's trial is set for October. Maughan's case is mired in motions and appeals.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox