Draper man charged with murdering Utah woman in Wyoming motel

Draper man charged with murdering Utah woman in Wyoming motel

(Sweetwater County Detention Center)


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ROCK SPRINGS, Wyo. — A Draper man was charged Friday in Wyoming with stabbing a Utah woman to death and injuring a second in a Rock Springs motel.

Bradley Ross Fairbourn, 18, is charged in Rock Springs Circuit Court with murder in the first degree and attempted murder in the first degree.

He is accused of killing Naisha Story, 29, of South Jordan, and injuring Linda Natalia Arce, 23, of West Valley City, who was found bleeding in the lobby of the Quality Inn, 1670 Sunset Dr. in Rock Springs, early Thursday.

As police continued Friday to sort through the details of what may have prompted the attack, documents filed in Rock Springs Circuit Court Friday detail conflicting stories given by the parties.

Several people who were staying in adjoining rooms at the hotel told police that they saw Fairbourn walking by several times and looking in windows. Later, hotel patrons said they "heard what sounded like a female being raped in the adjoining room, then heard a loud bang as though someone was being thrown against the wall" and a woman pleading, "Help me. Please don't hurt me, I have a 7-month-old child," court documents state.

Arce, who was stabbed in the face and chest, told police that Fairbourn had knocked on her door, forced his way in "with his hands behind his back" and then attacked her and Story with "an edged weapon," according to court documents. Blood trails were found leading from the room to the hotel lobby and to the parking lot.

Christopher Crayton, Arce's boyfriend, said Arce called him on her cellphone as she was running away. He told police he picked her up in his car, dropped her off in the lobby with a woman who called 911 and then saw Fairbourn running away and confronted him, the charges state. He told police he punched the man until officers arrived and detained him.

Police found Story's body in the room where the noise was coming from. Story was stabbed in the head, torso, and hand, according to charging documents. Detectives also noted evidence of a violent attack and struggle, finding blood on the floor, wall and furniture, the charges state.

Fairbourn told investigators he was traveling from Denver back to Draper when he logged onto Backpage.com to find a female escort, according to court documents. He claims he was instructed to go to the Quality Inn, but once he got there he realized he didn't have enough money, the charges state. He said he then got into a fight with Crayton, according to police.

Crayton told investigators that he and Arce had traveled from Salt Lake City to Rock Springs with Story and her boyfriend, Joseph Paul Lavato, 47, of Salt Lake City. They reportedly had planned to stay in Rock Springs for a few days before traveling to Cheyenne for a few days and then planned to spend a few more days in Denver, the charges state.

The two couples reportedly rented separate hotel rooms in Rock Springs.

Lavato said he was aware that Arce and Story were "contacting people online" and meeting up with several individuals in motels around Rock Springs, the charges state, allegedly to give them massages.

Fairbourn was being held Friday without bail.

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Pat Reavy

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