These comments droning about shoddy journalism were posted before the trial got into full swing. Since then, we have seen many of the Prosecution's own witnesses refute the testimony Sy ray provided to the Grand Jury making Mr. Martinez look completely inept. Also, for those following the trial, Sy ray hasn't even testified and the Defense has already started. Looks like it wasn't shoddy journalism after all and Sgt. Ray used this railroading to get a promotion. The GPD let him do this, proving they are all a bunch of bumbling douche bags.
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A Gilbert Detective Crossed the Line to Turn Doug Grant’s Wife’s Bathtub Drowning Into a Murder Case
Actually, the videotape shows Jenna sitting silently at the end of the interview, trying to regain her composure.
Also, it would have been two tapes, because the audio and videotape machines at the Gilbert Police Department in 2002 (when Jenna was interviewed) had to be turned on and off independently.
Ray hinted at an evil motivation when he told the grand jury that Doug Grant hadn't permitted anyone to be alone with Faylene after the fall off the cliff in Utah until she died.
What else could the detective have meant other than to plant suspicion in panel members' minds that Doug had pushed her off the cliff?
But Faylene's doctor at the hospital in American Fork and many others had spent time alone with her and noted nothing unusual about her behavior.
And there was Faylene's own account of the potentially fatal fall, to her own family and friends. She never told anyone that Doug had done anything to hurt her on the mountain.
To the contrary, Faylene was effusive about her husband's rescue efforts after the fall.
Also, if Faylene's journals were as forthright as she was in her everyday life, she wanted more than life itself to be the first in her "eternal family" to go to the Celestial Kingdom.
If Doug murdered her, he would not, under LDS doctrine, have been permitted to join Faylene in Heaven.
Facing such everlasting repercussions (much less the reality that she was living with a would-be killer), why would Faylene have told no one about what her husband allegedly had done on the cliff?
Without the account of Jim McElyea, whose failed attempt to extort money from Faylene's still-grieving family in 2005 turned him into a "cooperating" police snitch, it's questionable whether the case against Doug Grant would have moved forward.
McElyea told New Times in 2006 that he had invented much of what he first told Faylene's eager family and then Detective Ray about Doug's alleged "confession" to him.
"What happened in that house is between Doug and God, not between Doug and Jim McElyea," he said. "I got myself involved in something I shouldn't have."
In the fall of 2005, Mel McDonald, then new as Doug Grant's defense attorney, started familiarizing himself with the mass of material in the case.
Soon, he found potential witnesses that police hadn't interviewed, including Andrea Rogers, a schoolteacher who had been Doug and Faylene's neighbor on East Michelle Way in Gilbert.
Moments after he discovered Faylene floating in the bathtub on that morning in September 2001 (prosecutors would put quote marks around "discovering"), Doug Grant had sent his stepdaughter Jenna and two sons over to the Rogers residence.
In an affidavit, Andrea Rogers said she immediately went to the Grants' house to see what was up.
"I saw Doug Grant literally running around the corner, charging hard toward the front door where I was standing," Rogers wrote in her affidavit. "He had a frantic, terrified look on his face. He appeared distraught, and he was crying. He blurted out, 'This wasn't supposed to happen.'
"He excitedly told me that 'an ambulance was on the way' and asked me to please return home to watch over his children. He told me that he needed to get back [to Faylene] because he was performing CPR."
Rogers also remembered that the little Grant boys were hungry, which mattered because Jenna told police months later that Doug had been feeding one of the boys in his kitchen a short time earlier.
If true, that had happened as Faylene was floating unconscious in the tub. (Mel McDonald is likely to suggest that Jenna was recalling a different day.)
Sy Ray also did his own share of post-indictment investigation into what had become a career case.
He spoke for the first time to Becky and Mark Greer, who lived about eight miles from Utah's Timanogos Cave National Monument — the site of Faylene's fall.
They were the couple with whom the Grants stayed for two nights after Faylene went flying off the cliff. Becky Greer is a registered nurse who sits on the advisory board of Grant's company, Optimal Health Services.
In August 2005 (a month after Doug Grant was indicted), Detective Ray interviewed the Greers at their home. He soon asked whether they had discussed the fall with Doug and Faylene.
"Absolutely," Becky Greer told him. "I asked each of them privately [about it]."
That ran counter to what Sy Ray had told the grand jury about Doug's keeping a tight leash on all of Faylene's communications after the spill.
In fact, the Greers said, Doug had gone out to get food and other items during the stay, leaving Becky and Faylene home alone to chat freely.
Becky Greer said she had acted like an investigator during her one-on-ones with Faylene, talking to her about death, relationships, God, and other weighty topics.
She told the detective that Faylene had never mentioned suicide to her and said she had slipped and fallen while standing too close to the edge.
"I had the most wonderful conversations with her," Greer said. "I was perplexed that she fell. For me, if somebody just falls, there's a certain willingness there. That was a red flag to me."
17 comments
Rubin's obvious bias toward grant is so obvious its beyond silly. You have tom read between the lines to read the facts; the evidence; and when you do that its pretty obvious what happened. The love of money is the root of all evil; and murder is the ultimate evil.
From other articles i have read; jim Mcelyea was set up by the eaves with the promise of a loan to get him out of safford for his and his boys safety. The loan was a hoax;the police needed a direct confession from grant and they set up this guy who; according to the news article; had been hounded by the eaves to testify. even though they had mcelyea draw up a business plan on how the money would be used to start a new business in another state. Sounds like he may have grounds for libel from this publication.
For the sake of time, which part of the article WASN'T biased? You don't know Doug Grant, you are some lame wanna be journalist. If you'd like to get to know some TRUTH about Doug Grant, please visit this website: http://www.topix.com/forum/cou...
You're probably not MAN enough to post this on your site, we'll see.
Once again your journalism is found wanting. I can't believe you still have a job after this. Bigotry abounds. Who cares if she is a "Mormom". What religion is everyone else in the story? Oh, I forgot, it doesn't matter. The fact is that 99% of us believe in a God and Heaven and Hell. So big deal if some of the players are "Mormon" in this story.
Next, where are the opinions of the victims family, and the prosecuting attorneys. This story came out because the defense probably asked you to write it to help Doug Grant in the minds eye of the public. This is not balanced journalism. It is a crucificion of a detective trying to do his job and it is done purely by the defense to try and show how incompetent the detective was as a defense for Doug Grant. Whether or not the detective was incompetent, which I think he was, does not preclude Doug Grant's innocence or guilt. Fair and balanced journalism is what it is, and this is definitely not fair or balanced. I hope you get fired for not doing your due diligence.
In the end Doug Grant will be convicted because the prosecutors wisely did not give their case away in a biased, slanted, news article. You will look like the foolish writer you show yourself to be.
I have read these stories about the death of Faylene Grant with great interest. They were VERY thought-provoking. I obviously have no idea if Mr. Grant is guilty as charged or not, though my gut tells me that he's only guilty of being a self-centered ass. I am very troubled by the actions of Detective Ray. My brother in law is a detective with a local agency (not Gilbert) and after reading the story said that, if the writer is being factual, Detective Ray ought to be bumped back to patrol ASAP rather than be promoted and praised. If you're going to "get" someone, get them clean, not the way he's trying to railroad this defendant. Let me also send my condolences to Faylene's family for their loss. Whatever happened, it was a tragedy.
Some of you make me sick. A woman has lost her life, children have lost there mother due to deciet , lies and manipulations, and all you can say is, boy what crooked cop.
Let's not overlook the fact; A young beautiful woman lost her life to a man that is more capable of understanding how meds affect our body then most. And while she continued to die her husband is coming and answering the door, suppositly in a panic. Obviously the man knew CPR, he is a qualified something right? You don't leave giving CPR. People have done Cpr to strangers for hours waiting for help & this man who loved this woman so much he married her twice, gave him 2 additional children, STOPPED doing CPR to come to the door.???? The police, emergency staff. DO NOT wait patienly at the door. They bust in. As well as a neighbor, she doesn't just wait for someone. I think this is Sad Journalism.
They only people in Vegas when they got married the 2nd time ; was Doug, Faylene and ther 2 beautiful boys. WHERE DO YOU THINK THESE PICTURES CAME FROM? DOUG.
DOUG.
DOUG!!!!
Since Faylene is no longer with us, and the boys I'm sure r not readers of the New Times yet.
SO ALL OF YOU READERS, DON'T YOU THINK THIS IS A LITTLE SLANTED. DOUG GRANT IS MANIPULATING THE PUBLIC JUST LIKE HIS WIFE. AND YOU WONDER HOW IT HAPPENED TO HIS WIFE;
IT JUST HAPPENED TO YOU.
Im actually still shaking my head in disbelief about this story..they can actually lie at grand jury proceedings? Isnt that the basis for the steriod/athlete convictions, perjury?? I cant even begin to fathom how this POS is getting away with lying to a grand jury, or even how a case with more holes than a civ could actually get this far..and here i thought the whole part of the process was to find the truth and punish the criminal..guess its to help ignorant, worthless cops have a chance at promotions...
Isn't this the same Doug Grant associated with Don Lapre and the Greatest Vitamin in the World? If so, where is the background on that?
I have read with interest the story of Doug and Faylene Grant. The whole thing is so far from the life our Father in Heaven wishes for us. Our time here is to be spent proving ourselves, proving our commitment to Our Father and loving those around us so they might learn of His plan for us.
My understanding is that if infidelity occurs in a marriage the person committing the act must show repentance by abandoning any relationship he/she has with another person. Never will a relationship developed through infidelity be recognized by our Father as one worthy of Celestial sanction.
I am so sorry for Faylene�s duping. I am so sorry that she missed the chance to raise her children; that she allowed the man she loved to convince her that she didn�t need to live, that he and a 19 year old child could do a better job of parenting than the heavenly ordained mother of those children could. With all Faylene�s prayer and study, I am surprised that she could believe she had the authority to �invite� an adulterer to sit at her table. While it is our responsibility to forgive those who trespass against us, only God can wash them clean and extend the invitation to sit at His table.
My prayers for the spirits of all misguided souls to turn God for truth and to listen to His voice for the answers, I pray that we won�t allow our selfish desires to confuse the simple truth that Our Father has given us. I am truly sorry that this unfortunate event ever occurred, but since it has, we need trust that God can make it right. Romans 8:28 �All things work together for good to those that love the Lord.�
Signed � MRS- New Mexico
What a horrible horrible display of journalism. You talk of a bad cop; what about a bad jounalist. Did you even allow the defense to give any input or even a statement? You should be fired for such a one sided article when there are real people, families and lives at stake here. Whether Doug is guilty or innocent, both sides should be reported by you.
After reading the first part of the story last week I was so anxious to read the second part of this article. All week I have been thinking to myself, and talking to some co workers who also have read the article and the big question we all had concerning this case was how did it even pass through the grand jury??? This is an obvious suicide case! and then this week�s article came out and hit it right on the nose , the answer we were waiting for�. A crooked cop tells a one-sided story to the jury and then lies multiple times to sway the jury to indict Mr. grant�Sergeant Ray sounds like the biggest scum bag crooked cop that has ever walked the streets. He should serve jail time for all of his misrepresentations and lies he told in front of the grand jury... Its funny how he was promoted for "solving a case" whatever happened to innocent until otherwise proven guilty in a court of law??? The only thing that has been solved is that Sergeant Ray is a sorry excuse for a Sergeant and a JOKE of a cop! How long can Mr. Ray and the family of Faylene get away with what they has done to the life of Mr. Grant? It blows my mind how just because of a little gold badge that he can get away with what he wants... how come no one has been brave enough to step up and call him out publicly until now??? Whats taken so long?
Surely for any student who has taken Psych 101, it's clear that Faylene was using religion as a rationalization to believe her life and kids were Ok with this sick sociopath. For starters, no man who is a sexual addict and cheated repeatedly on his wife is going anywhere near the Celestial Kingdom according to LDS doctrine. Sometimes we just believe what we have to in order to surrvive...My heart goes out to Fay and her family; we surrvived the sociopath in ours but clearly she did not.
What's with all the stories suddenly where you point out that the person is Mormon in the headline? How does that really have anything to do with the overall story? It's not like these are polygamy stories, now are they? I don't see you mentioning Arpaio's religion in the stories you write about him, what about that scam artist from last week? His religion wasn't mentioned in the headline either. I don't see Andy Thomas' religion making it into the headlines either.I could understand it when you had the stories on Thomas O'Brien, since his title was related to his religion, and part of the overall story was about how he acted, even though his title should have made him act differently. Making sure to place 'Mormon' near 'murder' in your headlines is just tackySorry, I have been a new times fan for almost 25 years, but this is a little annoying, and I'm not even religious, let alone Mormon.
So, let�s see if I�ve got this straight. Doug dumps his YOUNGER girlfriend, and remarries his wife because God is calling her to Heaven. He get�s the kids (without paying child support), the settlement money, and the life insurance money. There is only one stipulation. He has to MARRY the YOUNGER girlfriend after his wife dies. Oh yes, and the wife has never been happier!
Now poor Doug is being tried for murder because a corrupt cop has manipulated the grand jury!
Someone has got to put this fairytale to an end. Hopefully Juan Martinez can do that.
I DON'T APPRECIATE YOUR COMIC PORTRAYL PICTURES.I THINK THAT THEY ARE A INSULT TO A VERY BEAUTIFUL WOMAN.
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