2 Orem men die in apparent murder-suicide


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OREM — Police were investigating the shooting deaths of two men at an Orem home Wednesday.

About 5:40 a.m., police were dispatched to a home near 475 E. 950 North, where they say a 24-year-old man shot a 64-year-old man before killing himself.

Police identified the 24-year-old as Riley Mecham. He lived in the home with his mother, his grandmother and his grandmother's live-in boyfriend, who was killed, according to Orem Police Lt. Craig Martinez.

The 64-year-old man was identified as Holden Sorenson.

Mecham apparently shot Sorenson upstairs with a shotgun, then went downstairs and killed himself with an AR-15 rifle, Martinez said.

"We're investigating this as a murder-suicide at this time," he said. "We don't really have a motive other than the fact that we know that Riley and the grandmother's boyfriend did not like each other."

No one else was injured, he said.

Bill Spalding, a family friend, said Mecham was a "good kid" and a "hard worker."


He got out of bed and went upstairs and did what he did and came downstairs and told his mother to lock herself in her room because he was going to kill himself. It's a sad situation.

–Bill Spalding, family friend


"It's hard on the family," Spalding said. "You can't blame anybody under these circumstances because it's mental illness is what it basically boils down to. … He got out of bed and went upstairs and did what he did and came downstairs and told his mother to lock herself in her room because he was going to kill himself. It's a sad situation."

The lieutenant said the preliminary investigation didn't find that drugs or alcohol were involved.

A search of court records indicates Mecham pleaded guilty in 2009 to possession of drug paraphernalia, a class A misdemeanor.

The area on 950 North between 400 East and 475 East was blocked off Wednesday while police investigated the shooting.

Contributing: Sam Penrod and Shara Park

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