ATTEMPTED MURDER -- A Payson man is in jail after threatening the lives of his wife and unborn child, police say.

Jarom Joel Braithwaite was charged July 28 with attempted murder, rape and witness tampering. According to the probable cause statement in the case, Fatima Braithwaite, his wife, said that in April her husband placed a pillow over her head and demanded that she have sex. Fatima Braithwaite said no because she was eight-and-a-half months pregnant.

At that point, Jarom Braithwaite allegedly pinned her wrists with his knees and put two pillows over her face, the statement said. During that time, Fatima Braithwaite said that her husband was yelling "Die Animal" in Russian.

After struggling, Fatima Braithwaite went limp, the statement said. When she awoke, Jarom Braithwaite was gone.

The rape charge against Jarom Braithwaite is in connection with a June incident. The statement said that after viewing bondage pornography, Jarom Braithwaite forced his wife into his room, threw her on the bed and raped her.

Lt. Darin Durfey of the Utah County sex crimes task force said that in both incidents Jarom Braithwaite was looking at pornography beforehand, and then "forced her to act out on what he viewed," he said.

Jarom Braithwaite also was arrested July 5 with sexual exploitation of a child and domestic violence in the presence of a child. He posted bail for that incident and was released July 10.

A judge set bail at $40,000 for the attempted murder charge and for witness tampering. Durfey said that the tampering charge came because Jarom Braithwaite asked his wife and family not to testify.

INTERNET ASSAULT -- Dennis Burk Chapman is charged with unlawful sexual contact after engaging in sexual activity six times with a minor, police say.

According to Provo police, the minor, a 16-year-old male, has autism. Chapman, 63, met the boy online and later met for sex.

The boy told his mother what happened after being dropped off by Chapman and she called police.

MUDSLIDES -- Two mudslides on State Road 144 closed part of American Fork Canyon on Monday night.

The mudslides, likely caused by rain, covered both lanes of traffic for a 150-foot stretch of the road. The mud was up to 4 feet deep in places.

Utah Highway Patrol trooper Jeff Nigbur said the slides happened close together and because of conditions in the area, UHP decided to close that stretch of canyon until the debris was removed and conditions improved.

"It's just going to take a little bit of manpower to get them cleaned up," Nigbur said.

The canyon was closed from the S.R. 144 and State Road 92 junction and up.

Plows were used to remove the debris, which was estimated to take 6-8 hours.

The mudslides had not caused any accidents or injuries as of the Daily Herald's deadline.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D3.