(KSL.com) Saratoga Springs, Utah Unreleased search warrants provide previously unreported information regarding the March murders of a mother and her 8-year-old son in Saratoga Springs. Additionally, the materials provide insight into the investigation’s trajectory.
On March 28, at approximately 10:15 a.m., Saratoga Springs police were called to Jessica Orton Lyman’s townhouse at 1244 N. Willowbrook Lane. According to court documents, Lyman’s 17-year-old daughter had just arrived home and discovered her mother and her 8-year-old brother lying on the floor in her mother’s bedroom.
Investigators found that Lyman and her son, Eli Painter, age eight, had been shot. At the scene, Eli was declared dead. A few days after her injuries, Lyman, 44, passed away. The case is being referred to as a double homicide by the police.
The orders were issued in April after police requested that Google furnish information from the Gmail accounts of Lyman and her 15-year-old son.
Evidence discovered in Lyman’s residence
When Lyman’s daughter contacted 911, she said she discovered her mother and her younger brother, Eli, unconscious and with head wounds. According to the search warrant papers, she stated that her brother, who is 15 years old, might also be present at the house.
Officers discovered that Lyman and Eli had both been shot in the head when they arrived. Eli was pronounced deceased. The warrant states that Jessica Lyman’s underpants was dragged around her knees. They brought her to a hospital.
The 15-year-old child told authorities that he had been napping in his room and had not heard anything. According to the warrant, when an officer questioned the youngster whether he knew of any firearms in the house, he replied that he did not.
According to what police noted in the warrant, Noah had not been informed at that time by EMS or police that there had been a gun or gunshot wounds.
When the 15-year-old brother and Lyman’s daughter were interrogated at a Children’s Justice Center, the kid admitted to staying up late the night before using his phone.
Using a different light source, detectives discovered dried seminal fluid on the sheets next to Jessica’s bed while carrying out a search warrant at the Lyman residence. They also discovered two.22-caliber round casings, according to the affidavit.
Investigators also discovered a number of objects in the room of the 15-year-old child and Lyman’s bedroom. According to the warrant, the items included matching fishnet stockings, one of which was in Lyman’s bedroom and the other in the teen’s. According to the police, multiple pairs of tiny, feminine underwear were also discovered in Noah’s bedroom.
According to the affidavit, when investigators searched the teen boy’s messy bedroom, they discovered two BB gun pistols, plate carriers, magazine pouches, and a handwritten note mentioning multiple types of forensic evidence, such as firearm testing, DNA, and serology.
According to the warrant, a second handwritten note that read, “This is a murder story,” was also found by an investigator.
At Utah Valley Regional Medical Center, a physician reported to the police that he discovered abnormal seminal fluid on Lyman.
CCTV footage
A neighbor gave footage from two security cameras that shows a large area to the south and east, as well as residences on Silvercrest Drive, which eventually crosses Willowbrook Lane, where the Lyman residence is located.
Around 2:30 a.m. on March 28, both cameras caught a figure leaving a space between two houses on Silvercrest Drive. According to authorities, the individual then travels a short distance north and south on Silvercrest Drive before heading north on Willowbrook Lane, which is just a few yards north of the Lyman property.
The individual then walks east on Willowbrook Lane and enters a space between two houses. According to the affidavit, the subject stops and covers his face with what looks to be a white mask before leaving the camera’s field of view.
The Lyman townhome and one of those residences are housed in the same structure. There is a gravel road east of the townhomes that runs parallel to and the entire length of each townhome, including the Lymans, without any obstructions. According to authorities, the Lyman residence is reachable from that walkway via a sliding glass door into the basement and a gate or vinyl fence.
The individual can be seen entering the space between the two Silvercrest Drive residences at 2:30 a.m. and leaving at 3 a.m., according to further doorbell camera footage dated March 28.
According to authorities, no one was caught entering or leaving the gap over the remainder of the night.
According to the warrant, detectives found multiple masks at the Lyman residence, including one that was light in color. According to a second search warrant, officers found a white and brown mask in the teen’s room that looked similar to the mask on the neighbor-provided video tapes.
The basement sliding glass door of the house was not fastened. The affidavit claims that no attempt was made to dust and gather fingerprints from the door, but it doesn’t specify why.
According to authorities, no firearms have been discovered during the inquiry.
After receiving a forensic scan of Lyman’s phone, investigators discovered a July 2024 exchange between the mother and her teenage son in which the boy bombarded her with foul language, calling her derogatory names and urging her to stop spending time with him. Among the messages were: I don’t like you leaving, do you need to learn to control your speech, I’m happier when I’m not with you, Quit talking, witch. Are you aware of your true lack of importance in my life? Very unimportant, and I wish I had perished in your belly.
