Man accused of ordering slaying will go to trial


Save Story
Leer en espaƱol

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

HEBER CITY -- A man accused of ordering the murder of a Utah County woman last December has been bound over for trial.

Prosecutors said Joshua Binkerd ordered the killing of Ashley Sparks at Jordanelle State Park because he feared she was helping authorities implicate him in a check fraud scheme.

The man who shot Sparks -- 20-year-old Christopher Alvey -- claimed Binkerd gave him an "S.O.S." or "shoot on sight" order. Alvey agreed to testify against Binkerd as part of a plea deal.

Lawyers for Binkerd said their client did not order Sparks' murder -- and that he simply asked Alvey to keep the woman away from him.

If convicted, Binkerd could face up to life in prison.

Related stories

Most recent Utah stories

Related topics

Utah

STAY IN THE KNOW

Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

KSL Weather Forecast