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A third person has been arrested in connection with yesterday's murder of a West Jordan man. Also, police have identified the victim as Jay Wolfenger.
Police say there was clear evidence of a struggle Thursday morning at Wolfenger's West Jordan apartment. It's still not clear why.
His body was later found in the shed near a home in West Valley. We spoke with a woman living at the house where Wolfenger's body was found. She did not want to appear on camera, but she tells us she did not know Wolfenger. She also said the suspect police arrested yesterday was not living at the house. She says he was an acquaintance who slept in the shed on occasion.
Police arrested that man, Pailate Lumu, yesterday afternoon. Then last night, police made two more arrests in West Jordan. Lumu, Ooleanui Salanoa, and Tuusao Ama all have been booked on aggravated kidnapping, burglary, and murder charges.
Neighbors who witnessed Wolfenger being carried out on a stretcher yesterday morning told us this morning that he was badly beaten but still moving. Police say he later died at the hospital.
Now those neighbors are trying to make sense of such a horrible crime so close to home.
One of them, Gordon Hansen, said, "It's been a quiet neighborhood. We just don't have that many things going on. Yes, we have our problems in the neighborhood, you know, certain people, but we've always been able to take care of it."
Investigators are completing an autopsy on Wolfenger at this hour and say they will have more information on the crime this afternoon.
E-mail: spark@ksl.com
