SANDY — Sandy police on Tuesday said they are continuing to interview potential suspects in the complicated case of a man found shot to death in a basement apartment six months ago.

The body of Marco Antonio Ibanez, 20, was found at 1365 E. 8085 South on Nov. 23. A search warrant was served on the apartment shortly after.

Since then, very little information has been released about the case. No one has been arrested. Police have also not publicly named any suspects.

But according to a newly unsealed search warrant affidavit filed in 3rd District Court, Unified police detectives investigating a separate case recently came across a man considered to be a suspect in the killing.

In April, officers were watching a stolen a vehicle when a man came out of a mobile home and drove away in it, according to the affidavit. When the man pulled over to the side of the road, investigators moved in and arrested him, the warrant states.

The 23-year-old man had a holster on his hip and a handgun in the vehicle.

"He was also identified as a homicide suspect out of Sandy. The weapon recovered was not the weapon used in the homicide," the warrant states.

A search of the trailer the man was seen leaving also resulted in the seizure of stolen iPads, laptops, cellphones, cameras as well as drug paraphernalia, according to the affidavit.

Sandy Police Sgt. Dean Carriger said Tuesday that detectives believe the man was in the residence where Ibanez's body was found "at some point, around the time the death occurred."

But when police attempted to interview him about the killing, "he declined to speak with us."

"He may be completely ruled out (as a suspect) down the road, or it could go to where we have enough to build a case where he was involved. We just don't have anything definitive yet," Carriger said.

That man is currently scheduled to go to trial in June for being a restricted person in possession of a firearm.

Complex investigation

What makes the homicide investigation so complex is the number of people who were in and out of the house during the time of Ibanez's death, the sergeant said, in addition to the number of people associated with those people. Detectives have had to sort out who was renting a room at the house and who was just staying for a couple of days.

Carriger said it is "going to take time" to put the case together, but indicated that detectives are "making good headway." Just locating potential suspects and witnesses has been a "daunting and time consuming" task, he said.

In January of 2015, Ibanez pleaded guilty to drug distribution and attempted drug possession in exchange for the dismissal of a charge of being a restricted person in possession of a firearm. He was sentenced to probation.

In that case, police found Ibanez to be in possession of marijuana and cocaine. He also had a handgun that he told police was for "protection," according to charging documents.

Anyone with information about the Ibanez case is asked to contact Sandy police at 801-568-4636.

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