- Sally Ann Krivanek seeks parole, still claiming she was only an accomplice in a 2002 murder.
- She pleaded guilty to the murder in 2003, denying direct involvement in Kellie Nelson's death.
- Nelson's family opposes parole, citing the crime's calculated nature and Krivanek's shifting blame.
SALT LAKE CITY — Sally Ann Krivanek says she is truly sorry for what she did to Kellie Nelson in 2002.
Several times on Tuesday, as she tried to explain what was happening in her life at the time, Krivanek told the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole that she didn't want to make excuses for what she did.
But just as she did during her sentencing hearing in 2003, Krivanek on Tuesday contended she was only an accomplice to the tragic events and that she did not actually kill Nelson.
"Some of the information you're telling me conflicts with some of the facts," board member Dan Bokovoy told Krivanek while pointing out that she pleaded guilty to murder in 2003.
Nelson, 23, was kidnapped on Dec. 1, 2002, outside her townhouse condominium in Barrington Park near 4200 South and 1300 West as she left for work, murdered, and her body dumped and set on fire just off of I-80 near 9000 West. Krivanek was arrested and charged with murder, a first-degree felony, and abuse or desecration of a dead body, a third-degree felony.
As part of a plea deal, Krivanek pleaded guilty to murder in exchange for the other charge being dropped. She was sentenced to a term of five years to life in the Utah State Prison.
On Tuesday, Krivanek, now 51, went before the parole board for the first time.
Prosecutors say Krivanek was "obsessed" with Nelson's live-in boyfriend, whom she used to date. They say Krivanek plotted Nelson's death and rented a U-Haul trailer used to transport Nelson's body. Other evidence collected included a "stun gun," a gas can and a wig.
But during her parole hearing, Krivanek had an excuse for each of those items — claiming the U-Haul was so she could get a Christmas tree and a recliner for her home, and the wig was for "role playing." Furthermore, she claimed Nelson's boyfriend told her Nelson had died from falling down a flight of stairs after they had been arguing and that the boyfriend then asked her to help him dispose of the body.
A preliminary autopsy report in 2002 stated that Nelson was killed by blunt-force trauma to the throat.
During sentencing in 2003, Salt Lake County deputy district attorney Robert Stott denounced a written statement from Krivanek in which she agreed to plead guilty — not to the murder itself, but to a portion of the legal language that lets her claim to be "a party to the offense." Stott said a lengthy and thorough investigation of the crime showed that no one else was involved.
"All evidence points to just one person — the defendant," Stott said.
During her parole hearing on Tuesday, Krivanek claimed she didn't even know what Nelson looked like because she was wrapped up in a sheet and "she was in the van in my driveway for most of the day."
KSL.com reached out to the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday about the 2002 investigation. The sheriff's office reiterated that Nelson's boyfriend was "absolutely not" involved in her murder and detectives do not believe he had any involvement. The sheriff's office says investigators were able to confirm the boyfriend's movements for that entire day.
Several members of Nelson's family also wrote letters to the board, some of which were read on Tuesday by Zane Till, Nelson's brother-in-law.
"I do not feel that justice has been served," Nelson's sister, Amy, said in her letter while calling Krivanek's crime "calculated, gruesome and deeply disturbing."
"She stalked and terrorized Kellie for months," her letter said.
Zane Till echoed the comments, saying Krivanek committed a "senseless, premeditated and cold-blooded murder" while asking the board to make her serve her entire life sentence.
In a letter submitted to the board by Nelson's brother, Andy Nelson said the "extremely disturbing nature of the act must also be considered, along with the attempts to shift blame afterward. Kellie's body was desecrated by being burned, denying her family the ability to see her one last time. No level of remorse can ever reverse the psychological trauma caused by this act, nor restore what was lost. While the physical evidence was clear, the district attorney's office offered a plea of lesser charges to spare our family the pain of a trial.
"She was taken from us through an act that was not driven by passion, fear or a moment of panic," her brother said in a copy of the letter provided to KSL.com. "It was not a response to any wrongdoing on her part. Kellie was simply in the way of someone who wanted something she had, and the choice was made to remove her. The act that ended her life was deliberate, planned and directed at someone who was entirely innocent."
Krivanek told the board that since being incarcerated, she is no longer addicted to prescription painkillers or any other drugs and has made strides in improving her mental health, which she claims were some of the main contributors to her actions. She says being able to work through the traumatic events of her childhood has been one of her biggest achievements while in prison.
"I am just asking for a chance to be able to get out and carry on with the positive things I've been doing since being incarcerated," she said.
The full five-member board will now vote on whether to grant parole. A decision is expected in a couple of weeks.
Correction: Andy Nelson is Kellie Nelson's brother. An earlier version misidentified him as her father.
