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Man charged with murder in Provo woman’s 2014 strangulation death stabbed another neighbor the next day, prosecutors say

Related Topics: Stabbing, Prosecutor, Woman, Death

A Provo man is accused of strangling a neighbor and dousing her body in drain cleaner and antifreeze just one day before he stabbed another neighbor — and both crimes occurred only weeks after he was released from prison, prosecutors say.

Jerad Dale Gourdin, 34, on Monday was charged with aggravated murder in the death of 60-year-old Belen Perez, who was found by her adult son in their Provo home more than four years ago.

Perez was found strangled with a stereo power cord around her neck on May 21, 2014, prosecutors wrote. An iPod and $350 had been taken from her purse, and various household chemicals had been poured on her body, most of it on her chest, neck and head, according to charging documents.