OGDEN, Utah (AP) - Trial began Monday for one of three men who were riding in a motorboat when it severed a swimmer's legs and killed the woman, a University of Utah scientist.
Prosecutors laid out their case against 22-year-old Skyler Shepherd, the boat owner. He told police another defendant was driving the boat when it hit Esther Fujimoto on Aug. 21, 2011, at Pineview Reservoir, seven miles east of Ogden.
Shepherd told authorities he took the wheel to circle back to the swimmer. The boaters have said they left the woman in the water after she reported she was OK. A medical examiner determined the 49-year-old Fujimoto died from propeller wounds.
A separate trial will be held in February for 23-year-old Colton Raines and 30-year-old Robert Cole Boyer.
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