Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
- Beth Marilyn Schardine testified that Amanda Kaye Bachman orchestrated a complicated kidnapping plot.
- Schardine claimed Amanda Bachman manipulated her and others, convincing them they needed to rescue the child.
- Schardine pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against Amanda Bachman.
VERNAL — Beth Marilyn Schardine says when she and two others went to Vernal to kidnap a 3-year-old girl from the child's father, she kept Amanda Kaye Bachman up to date on their progress and any change of plans.
"'Cause she runs things," Schardine said when asked why she had to check in with Bachman. "She runs everything."
Three people face criminal charges accusing them of plotting to take a young girl from her biological father and give the girl to her mother who has no custodial rights. Schardine, 33, who was also charged and later pleaded guilty, took the witness stand for nearly an hour during a preliminary hearing in Vernal last week and explained how she said she and the others were manipulated by Bachman into believing that the 3-year-old girl needed to be "rescued."
"She plays these kinds of mind games … she's very manipulative. She knows how to say just the right things to get you to do what she wants you to do," Schardine testified in a recording of the hearing.
The complicated string of events dates back to Jan. 10, when Utah County sheriff's deputies went to Bachman's Goshen residence with a court order to return the 3-year-old girl to her father. The father was granted full custody on Aug 9, 2023, but Lindsey Colleen Morrell, 31, would not return her and the young girl wasn't found until Jan. 10, according to court documents. Morrell was later charged in September with aggravated kidnapping, aggravated burglary and other crimes.
In May, Schardine, Ty Lucero Whetten, 36, Kaitlyn Anne Bachman, 24, and her mother, Amanda Bachman, 52, traveled to Roosevelt and Vernal to find the young girl and take her back, according to prosecutors. Schardine says Amanda Bachman told her the plan was they "were going to go in and get (the girl) and quickly get her into Mexico. And then (Bachman) was going to figure a plan to bring (the girl) back (to Utah)."
Amanda Bachman convinced Schardine that the court order giving Derrek Morrell full custody of his 3-year-old daughter was "fake" and was "not done legally," Schardine testified. She says Bachman then had Whetten bleach his hair and shave his beard "to make Ty look like a middle-aged case worker."
Matt Bunnell, with the State Bureau of Investigation, testified that Amanda Bachman gave Whetten notes on who he was supposed to pretend to be, what agency he needed to say he worked for and how to get the child back.
"There was even instructions if Derrek were to argue, on how he should tell him, 'Don't make this any worse for the child, just let us take the child and work it out in court,'" Bunnell said.
Whetten was given a document allegedly intended to look like a court order to take the girl back, Bunnell said. However, the document had several inaccuracies and was signed by a judge who did not exist.
Schardine said just before they drove to Morrell's home, Whetten became "really nervous" about following through with the plan and was crying. That's when Amanda Bachman allegedly convinced him to go through with it.
"I didn't realize it at the time, but I feel quite confident that she was using his affection for me to get him to follow through in taking (the girl)," Schardine testified. She said Amanda Bachman told him things like, "There would be angels watching over him," and that Morrell wouldn't see his face because "he would see an angel's face and cops wouldn't even know who to look for."
Schardine, Whetten and Kaitlyn Bachman were arrested that night and later charged in 8th District Court with aggravated kidnapping and aggravated burglary, first-degree felonies. Whetten was also charged with two counts of assault on an officer, a second-degree felony, and impersonating a public servant, a class B misdemeanor. Amanda Bachman was charged and taken into custody in August.
Schardine said after being incarcerated for a few months and away from Amanda Bachman, "I started to get a more clear understanding once I was (moved to the Wasatch County Jail) … and started to see a lot more clearly.
"I feel that I was extremely misled with the situation," she said.
In September, Schardine pleaded guilty to kidnapping and burglary and was released from custody in exchange for testifying against the others. She is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 17.
Derrek Morrell testified during the preliminary hearing that his former wife moved in with Amanda Bachman in 2022. Shortly after, he said the two women began "making a lot of statements about me that weren't true."
"They began making Facebook posts about how they claimed I was bribing multiple police agencies. They claimed that I was running a human trafficking ring. They claimed that I had poisoned their horses. They claimed I had illegally frightened a barn owl away from one of their establishments. They made a lot of claims over a long time," he said.
Kaitlyn Bachman waived her preliminary hearing. Whetten was ordered to stand trial on all his charges. Amanda Bachman was ordered to stand trial on all charges except theft by extortion. Arraignments for Whetten and Kaitlyn Bachman will be held Dec. 4. Amanda Bachman's arraignment will be held on Dec. 18.
Amanda Bachman and Schardine also face charges in a separate case accusing them of harassing the mayor of the town of Goshen, in part, by falsely claiming on social media he is involved in child human trafficking and demanding a large sum of money for them to stop the harassment.
Correction: Schardine pleaded guilty to kidnapping and burglary. An earlier version incorrectly stated she pleaded guilty to aggravated kidnapping and aggravated burglary.
