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MOAB — A fourth person has admitted to playing a role in the March 2013 shooting death of a Grand County man.
Bluesette Elizabeth Ossana pleaded guilty Tuesday in 7th District Court to one count of obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony. She also entered a guilty plea to possession of a controlled substance, a class A misdemeanor, in an unrelated case.
Ossana, 47, helped cover up the death of Gregorio Salazar Campos, according to Grand County Attorney Andrew Fitzgerald.
"She was one of the adults who got involved in disposing of the body," Fitzgerald said, adding that Ossana told Brody Blu Kruckenberg and Charles Anthony Nelson to use bleach to clean up the crime scene and a black light to ensure that all the blood had been removed.
Ossana also helped scout the location where Campos' body was dumped into the Colorado River and served as a lookout, the prosecutor said.
Kruckenberg and Nelson, who were both 16 years old at the time of Campos' death, were initially charged as adults with murder.
At first, prosecutors believed Nelson shot Campos three times in the head as the man slept in Kruckenberg's home on March 25. Detectives later learned Kruckenberg shot Campos, who was dating his mother.
The teen was likely encouraged to kill his mother's boyfriend by rival drug dealers who owed Campos money and were upset that he had been lacing the drugs he sold with chemicals that made users ill, Fitzgerald has said.
While Nelson didn't pull the trigger, surveillance video collected by detectives showed him buying rope with Kruckenberg after Campos' death. He also helped eliminate some evidence and scouted out potential locations to dump Campos' body, prosecutors said.
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Two teenagers have been taken into custody for investigation of homicide after a man was found dead on the outskirts of Moab.Kruckenberg's mother, Corina Dawn Yardley, also helped clean up the crime scene. Campos was shot in her bed, according to court records. Yardley, 45, pleaded guilty to two counts of obstructing justice in July. She was sentenced to 90 days in jail.
Kruckenberg, now 17, pleaded guilty in July to manslaughter and obstruction of justice, second-degree felonies, after his case was moved back to juvenile court from adult court. He was sentenced to confinement in a high-security juvenile detention center until he turns 21.
Nelson, now 17, also pleaded guilty in July to obstructing justice, a second-degree felony, in juvenile court. He was sentenced to a high-security juvenile detention facility as well, but a probation board will determine whether he stays behind bars until he turns 21 or gets out earlier.
Grand County sheriff's detectives continue to investigate the case, and Fitzgerald wouldn't rule out the possibility that more people could face charges.
"We still don't know all the answers and probably never will," the prosecutor said. "But we think we have a pretty good idea of what happened."
Ossana remains in the Grand County Jail. She is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 18.
