SALT LAKE CITY — A couple who spent months languishing in jail as falsely accused murder suspects are now suing an array of Utah County officials and agencies.

Roger and Pamela Mortensen filed a civil rights lawsuit Monday against the Utah County Sheriff’s Office, the Utah County Attorney’s Office and various individuals affiliated with those organizations. The lawsuit alleges that the couple’s constitutional and civil rights were violated, that they were maliciously prosecuted and that they were falsely arrested and incarcerated. The lawsuit seeks punitive and compensatory damages.

Roger and Pamela were arrested after Roger’s father, former BYU professor Kay Mortensen, was killed in his home in November 2009. When police arrived at the home they found Roger and Pamela there, who reportedly gave conflicting accounts of what happened.

The couple were arrested and charged with murder, but in December 2010 police shocked observers when they revealed that a tip had led them to Martin Bond and Benjamin Rettig, two young Vernal men. Roger and Pamela Mortensen were subsequently released after several months in jail. Bond has pleaded not guilty to murder charges and his case is progressing toward trial. Rettig pleaded guilty to murder charges in June, but in July began trying to retract that plea.

The lawsuit alleges that before the arrest of Bond and Rettig, sheriff’s detectives and Utah County prosecutors never took the couple’s account of the incident seriously. During Bond’s preliminary hearing, Pamela testified that she and Roger showed up at Kay’s home on the night of the murder to bring him a pie. She and Roger were zip-tied and left in a downstairs room, she said, then ordered to tell police that “three black men” were responsible for the killing. Pamela testified that she and Roger believed Bond and Rettig would come after them if they didn’t report the story.

But according to the lawsuit, investigators never seriously bothered to consider that story.

“Officers on the scene had already indicated to one another that the plaintiffs were likely the murderers and their story was not being taken seriously,” the lawsuit states.

Later, the lawsuit goes on to argue, officials failed to properly follow up on leads and made false and misleading statements about the couple’s ability to recall the events surrounding the murder.

It also states that officials “made multiple false and misleading statements to the grand jury that misrepresented or concealed important exculpatory facts regarding Roger and Pam’s descriptions of the suspects.”

The lawsuit also alleges that the prosecutors were motivated by what they perceived as Roger’s and Pamela’s lack of emotion and their supposed inappropriate reactions to the killing. Robert Sykes, who is the attorney representing the Mortensens in the lawsuit, said Monday that he doesn’t fault authorities for suspecting the couple. But the problem, according to Sykes, was that investigators let their suspicions eclipse the truth.

“They should suspect everybody,” Sykes said. “They just can’t misrepresent information to the grand jury. I think that’s poor police work that they didn’t keep an open mind.”

According to the lawsuit, the Mortensens spent nearly four months in jail, despite the fact that there was no probable cause to hold them. And ultimately, those named in the lawsuit are accused of acting “with malice” to indict Roger and Pamela, “even though they knew or should have known that there was insufficient evidence” to move forward.

As a result of authorities mishandling the case, Pamela lost her job and both she and Roger were humiliated, the lawsuit alleges. They also reportedly lost the good favor of their family and the community.

Sykes added that many people continue to believe that the couple had something to do with the murder and that they may never be able to fully clear their names.

“If you throw a rock in a pond you never get the ripples back,” Sykes said. “And that’s what happened here. They have suffered a great deal because of this.”

A news release produced by the Utah County Attorney’s Office counters allegations made in the lawsuit. The release describes the investigation into the murder as “exhaustive” and notes that a grand jury found “there was clear and convincing evidence to find that both Roger and Pamela Mortensen were responsible for Kay’s murder.”

The release repeatedly describes the evidence against the couple as convincing, but concludes by stating that the sheriff’s and attorney’s offices look forward to working with the Mortensens while seeking “to obtain justice” for the killing.

The lawsuit does not list a specific monetary value sought by the Mortensens, but Sykes said their suffering and losses have been considerable.

“It’s a very unfortunate situation and very damaging to these people who were innocent,” Sykes said. “Obviously that’s worth a lot of money.”